


Walking With Life in Mind

by calikocat



Series: Walking With... [1]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, F/M, Gen, Glenn is a Girl, Glenn is hiding her Gender for reasons, Racist Language, Reasons like attempted Rape
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-14
Updated: 2016-07-14
Packaged: 2018-07-23 22:19:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 29,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7482081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/calikocat/pseuds/calikocat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Glenn took off, heading out the way she'd come in and straight to the next building, however the other Walkers were milling about and saw her. “Crap!” More shuffling and groaning was coming from all sides...the only place to go was up. Thank building planners for fire escapes. She clambered up the old metal stairs all the way to the top of the building and ran, because damn, there were Walkers on the roof. Why the hell were there Walkers on the roof?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Walking With Life in Mind

**Author's Note:**

> Special Note: In celebration of my birthday (I'm 30 now!) I'm posting this little uber fic.

Walking With Life in Mind  
calikocat

Word count: 30,091

Disclaimer: The Walking Dead does not belong to me.

Note 1: I'm still new to this fandom so bear with me...I stumbled in, it swallowed me whole, and I can't find the damn exit. Help.

Note 2: Rewrite of season 1...where Glenn is a woman pretending to be a man; because, unfortunately, sometimes pretending to be a man is safer... Daryl is the first to figure it out. 

Note 3: That said, obviously the pairing is Daryl/Glenn, though there's some Rick/Shane in the background.

Note 4: Warnings for racist and homophobic slurs because Merle Dixon exists.

Note 5: Possible trigger warnings for close calls and mentions of rape.

Note 6: Any mistakes are mine; my beta is squicked by zombies and their accompanying gore and refuses to watch the show. I'm not gonna insist she watch it just so my fics can be better.

XXX

She shivered in the cool night air and pulled the blanket tighter around herself, listening to the sounds of the woods and trying not to think. It was hard though; so much had happened in the last few weeks, things that she never thought would happen. The dead had risen and started eating the living for God’s sake. It was the end of the world; and she was alone, which was fine. It was better than...no... no don't think about that.

Glenn managed to divert her thoughts to earlier, back before she'd been captured. When all of this was just some crazy news report she'd caught on the television before her shift at Colosseum Pizzeria.

~x~

_Glenn glared at the numbers above the elevator door as the car took its sweet time traveling up to her floor. Normally she wouldn't use the crappy and ancient thing, but she'd been working in the shop today instead of delivering pizzas. There was a reason she preferred delivering, it meant sitting on her ass and not being on her feet working a register. When the elevator finally made its trek to the fourth floor she all but launched herself through the doors as they opened. She came to a halt, however, the moment she saw the apartment across the hall because the door was open...and there were smears of blood all over the cheap wood._

_She stood there for the longest time; just staring at the blood, not moving from her spot in front of the elevator. Should she use the last five minutes on her phone to call 911? Should she peek inside? No, that never ended well in the movies. Screw it. She dialed 911 and waited for a dispatcher to answer...it rang...and rang...and rang. Then a recording came on telling her the lines were full and to try again but only if it was a true emergency. Glenn hung up and stared at her phone. Really?_

_A sigh left her lips as she headed down the hall to her own apartment; no way was she going through a blood covered door without a weapon. She let herself in and grabbed the 9-iron from the hat stand in the entryway. It wasn't like she played golf; she'd bought it at a garage sale before she'd moved to Georgia. With her 'weapon' in hand she crept back down the hall to the open apartment and pushed the door open the rest of the way with the club. Nothing came at her, no one shot at her. Good enough._

_Glenn swallowed her fear, because her neighbors weren't the nicest people around and peeked inside; then stared in horror. The couple that lived there were lying in a pile just inside the living room. It looked like...like...Glenn backed out and fled from the scene and didn't stop until she was safe in her own apartment with the door locked and barricaded. The 9-iron slipped from her grasp and clunked to the floor and she tried not to shake. Someone else could deal with...with that, whatever it had been. She'd tried, and it was all over with anyway._

_She shuddered and tried to block the image from her mind; the woman's face buried in the open gore of her husbands' stomach, her brains splattered all over the floor and his legs. His brains splattered over the floor, wall, and ceiling behind him. It was...it looked like she'd started eating him and he'd killed her in self defense before turning the gun on himself._

_Dear god._

_Glenn barely made it to the bathroom before she threw up the free pizza she'd eaten for lunch. And as she stared into the toilet, trying not to gag at the red mess floating in the water something clicked in her mind. That report she'd seen earlier, it and others like it had been on all week and the one before. Talking about a sort of a super flu... and cannibalism._

_Holy shit. It was all true! And that cannibalism was contagious. With that thought in mind she flushed the toilet, stripped and hopped in the shower while hoping she hadn't gotten contaminated with the cannibal flu._

_She scrubbed until she was pink and did the same with her hair wondering if she should shave it all off. No, nothing that drastic. When she'd used all her shampoo and conditioner she turned off the water and dried off, putting her hair up in a towel. Then she stepped over the pile of clothes and made her way to her dresser to put on something clean. In the end she decided to trash the clothes, going so far as to wear rubber gloves as she was bagging them and putting them in the trashcan._

_Glenn gave a long sigh of relief and settled in front of her TV with a glass of water, wondering if the rest of the world was as fucked up as the apartment down the hall. It was._

_In fact several states were declaring states of emergency and people were starting to evacuate small towns. Her eyes widened when the local broadcast showed her own town of Macon was one of them._

~x~

The thoughts faded, they were the blandest and least terrifying of her recent memories, and she didn't want to think of the others. So she focused on the here and now, which was the middle of the woods along the southern edge of Atlanta. It was midnight, according to the watch on her wrist that lit up when she pushed a button. She was alone and up a tree, literally. 

Before it had gotten dark she'd found an old deer stand and scaled up to it with little effort. It looked strong, steady; and it had three half walls and a roof. Glenn doubted she'd find better shelter anywhere else around. So after a quick peek to make sure it was unoccupied by anyone alive, or dead, she hauled herself into it and let out a sigh of relief.

She was safe. Sort of. She'd taken the time to eat a little something, drink some water, and then tied herself to the supports of the deer stand. Just in case she rolled out of the tree in the middle of the night. She'd been there ever since; huddled under her blanket and hoping she didn't run into anyone. Not again.

Eventually her eyes closed and she fell asleep to the sound of crickets and other bugs. As long the normal night noises continued it was safe, if they ever stopped she'd have to be on her guard.

xxx

She jolted awake and nearly rolled right out of the deer stand, barely catching herself before she toppled out of the tree. It made her doubly glad she'd had the foresight to tie herself to the structure with some nylon rope she'd found and packed in her backpack.

Her breathing was harsh, stuttering, and she could barely catch it; it felt like she'd just run a mile without stopping. Damn nightmare. Glenn was shaking and she hated it; the nightmare, based on memories, was fresh in her mind and even though she was awake the images wouldn't stop.

She'd been in the refugee camp, which had been horrible, and she hadn't wanted to go in the first place but Macon had been evacuated. No one in her building had been allowed to stay; apparently someone had finally gotten through to 911 and told them about the bloody scene down the hall from her. People in biohazard suits and soldiers had taken the building then and everyone had been forced to leave in the early hours of the morning.

Glenn had barely had time to get dressed and throw a few things in a duffel bag before a soldier escorted her to a large open back truck in the street. The 80 mile drive to Atlanta hadn't been a fun one once the sun had risen. The refugee camp had been even worse.

She settled back down in her temporary shelter and fished her penlight out of her pocket; it was still dark though dawn was coming. Still she wanted to see, she was thirsty and wasn't sure where her water bottle had ended up. It wasn't far from her; she took a long drink, capping it again when she was done and turning off her light. She returned it to her pocket and took a deep breath, she'd finally stopped shaking.

But thoughts of the refugee camp continued, it had been bad, even before the dead rose up and took it over. The soldiers that had been responsible for them had been complete assholes who only gave out supplies to those with something to trade. Especially if that something was sex. As a result Glenn had gotten really good at stealing what she needed, just enough to keep her going, and never enough to be caught.

The building they'd been kept in was a convention center, an older one, and high security had not been its specialty as most of the locks could be picked with a bobby pin. She was lucky she'd found the pack of them that someone had dropped; and it wasn't like the supplies were guarded 24/7. The soldiers were too busy getting paid in sexual services to pay that much attention, assholes.

Glenn rubbed at her eyes, willing her thoughts away, or trying to. She had no luck though as they replayed in her head. How the dead had risen up and the soldiers had been over run, putting down every civilian who was in front of them in their panic. She'd barely gotten out alive; it was pure luck that she'd managed it.

She and some other refugees had followed the soldiers out, where the poor bastards got ambushed by the dead. They'd used that distraction to run for the trucks, luckily the second one she looked in had keys in the ignition. Glenn had whistled as she jumped in the driver seat; the group that had followed her out piled into the back and away they went, crashing through the only chain-link gate still standing as they made their getaway.

That memory made her smile, just a bit, as she remembered dropping people off all the way back to Macon where she got off and left the truck with a family that was going further north and out of Georgia. They'd all hugged her, thanked her, and Glenn hoped they'd made it somewhere relatively safe.

Finally she was able to doze off again, that tiny smile on her lips.

xxx

It was full daylight when Glenn woke up again, yawning, stretching, and rubbing at her face. Her hands ran through her hair, freezing at the unfamiliar shortness. Hell, for a moment she'd forgotten she'd cut it and her stomach flipped at that particular memory. Why the hell her mind kept throwing all the bad crap at her, one memory after the other she didn't know, but it sucked ass.

She sighed and reached for her old ball cap and put it on her head before untying the rope around her. Cautiously she peeked over the walls of her shelter, making sure she was alone before climbing down the ladder, toilet paper in hand, and the 9-iron through her belt loop. When she reached the ground she paused and listened, there was a breeze which was nice in the growing heat and the birds sounded cheerful. She was safe then, safe enough to take care of some business anyway.

She used the 9-iron to dig a little hole, did her thing, and buried the evidence before going back to her tree and climbing back up. Settling in the stand again she put the toilet paper back in her backpack, and rinsed her hands with a little of her precious water, there wasn't much left. She drank a little of it, and ate a couple of granola bars, wondering if there was a stream around, she had a couple of jugs she could collect water in and a pot for boiling it. Not to mention a lighter, matches and a magnifying glass.

Not wanting to put it off she climbed back down, 9-iron on one side, empty jugs tied to another belt loop on her other side and headed deeper in the woods, hoping to find water. She vaguely remembered passing a stream the day before during her mad dash to safety and hoped she could find it again.

 

She found a campsite first and nearly dove behind a tree not wanting to be discovered at all. Her heart hammered in her chest and she waited behind the tree, breath held in tense fear. She waited, for a whole two minutes, before finally breathing slowly and peeked around the tree to see nothing in the campsite had moved. Huh. The sun was pretty high in the sky now...and it was too dangerous to sleep in.

Cautiously she moved from her hiding place and crept into the campsite, still nothing moved. It wasn't even much of a campsite with one tent in the middle of the clearing and a fire pit in front of it. Whoever had set up hadn't even put some kind of security around their shelter.

She reached the fire pit and held her hand over it, no warmth at all, so she took her 9-iron and stirred up the ashes. Nothing, not even a spark, there hadn't been a fire the night before, that didn't mean anything good.

She kept her weapon in hand and approached the tent, reaching for the zipper and opening the flap. Movement inside made her pause and then she was jumping back as hands reached for her, clouded eyes staring at her hungrily. The dead man crawled out after her and before he could get to his feet she swung the 9-iron and hit his head, knocking him flat to the ground. He snarled and still reached for her as she swung again, harder, and this time broke through the skull. She swung a few more times until the skull was completely bashed in.

Glenn took a few steps back, gasping for breath, heart racing at the close call; she kept her eyes open, however, in case there were more surprises in the tent. She approached the tent again with the 9-iron raised high as she looked inside the tent. Nothing inside but a sleeping bag and camping supplies; awesome.

She took a closer look; the sleeping bag looked clean enough and would be softer than the hard wooden floor of her deer stand. So she rolled it up, grabbed the pack beside it, and high tailed it back to her own little camp. Once there she added her new gear to her stash and went back out in search of the stream.

 

Once she had both jugs filled with water she went back to the deer stand and dug out her own fire pit. She'd have to boil the water before she could drink it and the sooner she had the fire pit ready the sooner she'd have water to drink.

She ended up going back to the other campsite to take the rocks from the fire pit there...as well as the rest of the supplies. On her third trip back she managed to get the tent taken down...sort of. She'd gotten all the pieces back in the bag, though it was a tight fit and a couple of poles were sticking out...maybe she'd be able to get it back up when she moved on from the deer stand. It was good enough for now though.

 

She spent the rest of the day boiling water, getting all her water bottles and jugs filled; including the water cooler her dead benefactor had left her. With all of that she'd have enough water for days, maybe a week if she was careful. Then she decided to make her camp a bit more secure.

The dead camper had a lot of empty cans in a trash bag that Glenn planned to use as a warning system. It took some doing but she used twine from her new supplies and tied it to some saplings all the way around her tree, cans hanging from it in bunches so they'd clank together if a walker stumbled into the lines. It was as safe as she was going to get so she went back to the stream one more time with her boiling pot and brought it back to campfire so she could get cleaned up a bit.

An hour later she was cleaner than she'd been in a week, she'd eaten some more food, and now she was sitting in her deer stand trying not to let memories overtake her. There wasn't much she could do to stop them and she felt her eyes water as they won...

~x~

_Most of Macon had been evacuated and abandoned by the time she'd made it back to her apartment. There was still a small military presence situated at the town hall, which was luckily in the center of the city and very far from her building. She hadn't had any plans then, not really, she just wanted to be somewhere she felt safe._

_The main entrances of her building were locked, but the fire escape was fair game and she pulled up the bottom behind her to keep anyone else from doing the same. She used it to get all the way up to the roof, and raided the small garden the super had kept up there. Fresh tomatoes had never tasted so good._

_The lock to the roof access door was easy to pick and she wondered if she should be getting worried about how good she was getting at it, then decided it didn't matter. She headed down the stairs to her floor and opened the door, hoping the coast was clear. All was quiet and she crept to her apartment door, getting her keys out of her pocket, happy to see her lock intact and let herself in._

_Her apartment was untouched and she breathed a sigh of relief, happy things finally seemed to be going right for her. Even though she knew she wouldn't be able to stay here indefinitely, but she'd stay as long as she could. So she had a feast that night, all of the things in the freezer that she wouldn't be able to take with her she heated up in the oven and ate it._

_She got to stay home for three days before the power was cut off, and it didn't come back on. By then, however, she had her bags packed and the trunk of her car filled with every can of food in her apartment and all the apartments on her floor. She was ready to go, though she had no idea where there was to go._

~x~

Glenn shrugged away the memory, again it was mild to what happened later, and she pulled out a paperback she'd found in the dead man's things and settled in to read. She might as well; there was nothing else to do.

 

She read until the surrounding woods started to get dark and she decided to get ready for the coming night. First she unrolled her 'new' sleeping bag, leaving her blanket folded on top of it and the pillow at the head of it. Then she thought about building the fire back up, but decided against it; she now had plenty of canned goods, and potted meat and crackers didn't exactly need heating up. So she ate her meager supper, made a bathroom run, and settled on her sleeping bag, rope secured around her, with her book until it was too dark to see the words anymore. Only then did she turn in, not wanting to waste her batteries or lamp oil.

xxx

Somehow Glenn managed to sleep through the night and didn't wake until dawn the next morning, when the cans around her camp starting clanking together vigorously. She sat up, covering her mouth to try and hide the gasp that left her; not wanting whatever was down there to know she was there. Still, she had to get the clanking to stop; it would draw more of the dead, if that's what had found her spot.

She crawled from under her blanket and peeked over the edges of her short walls in the predawn gloom. It was a Walker all right, caught up in the twine and cans, growling and lurching around. Glenn grabbed her 9-iron and climbed down from the stand, only after she'd looked around to make sure it was only the one...no sense in making it this far only to die from being stupid. She only saw the one though and hoped it didn't have any undead buddies wandering around.

She made it to the ground and rushed at the growling corpse, swinging her 9-iron at its head. One hit had it on its knees. The next hit had it on the ground. The third hit completely stopped its movements and Glenn breathed a sigh of relief. Though she smacked it in the face with her club a few times to be sure, then she dragged it a few feet away from her camp to deal with later.

Then she high tailed it back up into her tower of solitude and waited for true dawn to arrive, huddled up under her blanket and sipping at her water.

 

'True dawn' never really happened because the wind picked up making her can alarm clang and clatter while thunder rolled far above in the clouds. Shit. Her half walls and roof wouldn't keep all the rain out. Another crack of thunder sent her scrambling for a tarp that had been in the camping supplies she'd scavenged. She used the twine to tie it to the support posts and wrap it around all four sides of her shelter. It was just big enough and it made Glenn wonder just what the guy had expected to use the huge thing for...had he had a boat or something? There had been no vehicle of any kind at the campsite. So what the heck?

It didn't really matter though, because the clouds opened up and the rain poured down in a thick water blanket that made visibility a complete zero. She'd peeked outside just to check and she couldn't even see the closest tree. At least the wind had died down in the downpour, so the cans were silent.

There was nothing else to do but sit and wait it out...which made her bathroom trips rather miserable.

 

The rain lasted for two days. By the end of the first her roof had started leaking which meant her shelter wasn't as great as she'd thought. By the end of the second day, when the rain finally quit, Glenn had decided to move on from her deer stand. So she took down her tarp and let it hang down from the side to drain and dry, then did the same with her sleeping bag and blanket. They needed to be dry when she packed them up or they'd mildew, her pillow might just be a lost cause.

She wouldn't be able to take everything she'd found. The backpack and duffel she'd started out with sure, and maybe the pack she'd taken from the first Walker. She'd definitely fill every bottle she had with water, glad she'd boiled enough water to fill the water cooler she'd taken. The water cooler itself would have to stay; she didn't have a car anymore as it had died ten miles from Atlanta, so she had no way to transport it.

Atlanta. It was done for now, it had still been smoking when she'd gotten close, not that she'd intended to go back there. She had planned to go past it, no real destination in mind, but she definitely hadn't planned on going back to the city and its shitty refugee camp that had been overrun.

There was nowhere to go...but she couldn't spend the rest of her life on her own huddled in a leaky deer stand. She decided to leave in the morning.

 

When morning came the sun came with it, bringing the summer Georgia heat that she wasn't particularly fond of. Her sleeping bag, blanket, and even her pillow, were dry; which was more than she'd hoped for. She rolled them up and tied them to the pack, backpack and duffel shoved inside of it with her water bottles on top for easy access.

She left the tarp folded up underneath the water cooler inside the deer stand and one oil lantern beside it, and didn't bother taking down the cans. Someone else might stumble on it and need shelter, and she could use some good karma. Glenn even left a note under the tarp explaining what she'd done, and that the roof leaked. The last thing she did was leave an unopened pack of jerky in the cooler and hoped it helped out the next person who found this little sanctuary.

Then she picked a direction and started walking, the uber-pack strapped to her back, tent included, a canteen over her shoulder and a walking stick in her hand. The 9-iron slipped through her belt loop a constant comfort.

xxx

She walked all day, occasionally crossing forgotten dirt and gravel roads, before stopping close to sundown when she found a suitable tree that she could climb. Up the tree she went, tying first her pack to a branch, and then herself, settling in for the night with her book and a granola bar and a can of green beans. She read until she lost the light and tried to sleep.

 

The next two days was more of the same and she was so exhausted by the end of that second day that when she stumbled into a clearing with an RV and a rifle pointed at her she almost didn't care. She sank to her knees; hands raised in surrender, and hoped the old man with the gun only shot her.

“Where'd you come from son?” He asked.

Glenn bit her tongue, stopping herself from correcting him on her gender. That was the point after all. Cutting her hair and strapping down her chest, if strangers, especially men thought she was a man, she'd be safer, she wouldn't...she forced her thoughts away and cleared her throat, pointing behind her.

“Three days walk that way.”

“And before that?”

“Macon, Georgia.”

The man frowned at her. “That was evacuated a while ago wasn't it?”

Glenn gulped and nodded. “Yes sir. Soldiers took us to Atlanta.”

“Good God...you weren't there when it was bombed were you?”

Glenn shook her head. “No, some other refugees and I left when it got over run; we stole a truck and got out of the city. I made it all the way back to Macon to get more of my stuff.”

“I heard it got bad before the military firebombed the city.”

“The refugee camp was...” Glenn swallowed again. “The things the soldiers did weren’t right. So a few of us escaped when we could.”

The man, who looked to be in his sixties, finally lowered his rifle. “I'm Dale Horvath.”

“Glenn Rhee.”

“Well Glenn, the girls and I are about to start supper if you're hungry.”

Glenn nodded. “I-I have some food in my pack.”

“Good idea.” Dale gave her a friendly smile and she felt herself relax. “Best to pool our resources together. Come meet Andrea, Amy and Jim, I've only known them since this all started, but the company has been nice.”

Glenn made it to her feet, glad that she'd finally made it to a safe place.

 

She settled in at the old quarry just fine. Dale had been to the campground before, years ago with his late wife and knew the area pretty well. He'd been the one to bring the sisters Andrea and Amy to the quarry, whom he'd met at a rest stop quite a ways from Atlanta. The sisters had been on a road trip when their car had been run off the road and died just short of the rest stop. Dale had given them a ride...but by that time no one could get into Atlanta so he'd taken them to Bellwood Quarry until the roads cleared, which they never did.

Jim had shown up on his own and didn't talk much about how he'd ended up at the quarry. There was a haunted look in his eyes and Glenn figured that whatever had happened must have been bad. She didn't have the heart to comment on his wedding band, as it was probably the source of his sorrow.

Dale was a kind man, ready to take in stragglers, and he helped Glenn set up her tent not too far from the RV which they had made the sort of headquarters of their camp. Dale was staying in the RV himself while Andrea and Amy used the tent he and his wife had for years. Jim found another tent, scavenging for supplies in the traffic jam on the way into Atlanta, which is how they got the Morales family. They had thought he'd needed a ride, so he led them back to the quarry and relative safety. Glenn thought it was a good idea, it meant more people to keep watch.

There were others that wondered in, older couples who had camped there for years during the summer like Dale and his wife had. A few singles who just wanted a safe place to rest their head and had nowhere to go and no one waiting on them. They were a rag-tag group with no real leadership though everyone did sort of turn to Dale as their old wise man figure.

Leadership didn't come until Shane Walsh, Deputy Sheriff of King County Georgia, showed up in his jeep with a little boy riding shotgun, and a family of three following him in an old Cherokee, the Peletiers. In a way everyone was glad that some sort of authority figure had showed up and given them some sort of structure. Well everyone but Ed Peletier who was kind of an asshole to his wife and daughter, not to mention he gave Glenn the creeps and reminded her too much of her own close call.

When Glenn had first seen Shane and Carl, the little boy, she'd assumed they were father and son and that Shane's wife hadn't made it because their eyes were haunted the same way Jim's were. She never got the full story, just that Shane and Carl's dad had been friends and Carl's parents didn't make it out of their small town.

The downside to having so many people in their camp, however, was that supplies were getting used up fast, and someone was going to have to make a supply run. Glenn volunteered, and no one questioned it; no one thought it was a bad idea for a woman to go into Atlanta by herself, because they all thought she was guy. Her cover was still holding.

So she trekked into the city and started raiding at the outskirts for food, clothing and medical supplies. She always looked for useful odds and ends too, like sunscreen, soap, shampoo, candy for the kids in their group, cigarettes for Ed Peletier. Glen only got them because he seemed to hit Carol less if he had his damn cancer sticks to smoke.

Her supply runs weren't without risk, there were Walkers everywhere and she'd had to bash her share of skulls in with her beloved 9-iron. It didn't help that many places had already been picked almost clean by looters before the bombs had been dropped. She always came back though, because no one else had volunteered to do what she was doing, and really, it was better than just sitting around the quarry.

 

Glenn was coming back from a run, her second that week, as they were running low on toilet paper again and many of the women needed pads or tampons. She didn't, though she had spares in her pack just in case, but she'd learned a couple of years ago that she'd save a ton of money by using some menstrual cups. They were medical grade silicon and could be reused for years if they were cleaned and sterilized properly. She'd even managed to find a few so the women back at camp could have at least two apiece. Andrea and Amy had given her strange looks when she'd given them each a two pack, and then made her explain how she knew about such things. Luckily she was able to tell them a half truth; she had sisters that used them. They never spoke of it again.

But she was coming back with supplies when she heard loud voices up ahead at camp, someone was even yelling. So she started running back, 9-iron in her hands in case a Walker had shown up.

That wasn't the case though, but there were new arrivals. The Dixon brothers.

Merle was...a racist asshole who made everyone tense and didn't have a whole lot to offer, other than a couple of guns and another set of eyes to keep watch. Daryl was another story; he had a crossbow and brought back fresh meat every time he went hunting. Enough for everyone, which made things easier on Glenn because she didn't have to nearly kill herself trying to get into the more Walker filled grocery stores.

Their first impression though wasn't the greatest. They had arrived at camp and announced their intention to stay, no matter what anyone else wanted or thought. Merle had swaggered around and picked out a place to set up their tent, while Daryl went into the woods to hunt.

Glenn had arrived after Merle had apparently said something extremely shitty to Jacqui which got T-Dog all riled up. The only thing that kept them from coming to blows was Shane...and Daryl coming out of the woods with a sash made of rabbits and squirrels. Everyone had gotten quiet at the sight, even Merle, and Daryl dragged his brother to their tent where they butchered the meat and asked for the biggest stew pot the camp had. Carol had brought it forth and in went all that fresh meat.

The Dixons were there to stay, for better or worse.

Shane was the first to notice Glenn at the edge of camp, loaded down with supplies, 9-iron raised and ready.

“You okay there Glenn?”

She nodded. “I heard yelling...so I came running.”

“Just a bit of a disagreement.” He smiled a good ol' boy smile. “You get that toilet paper?”

“Dude I got a whole bunch of stuff.”

Then Shane went and offered her services to the Dixons. “Glenn here goes to Atlanta a couple times a week for supplies. Let him know if you need something.”

Merle had sneered at that. “That little Chink there? Boy how have you not gotten eaten by now?”

Glenn let the insult slide right off her. “I'm the fastest person here, and I always come back.” She didn't say anything else to Merle, though Daryl gave her a curious look before she focused on the others and began to hand out the things she'd found.

The food went into their 'communal' storage next to the RV. The pads and tampons were passed around to the women who needed them; they had to have something while they were sterilizing the menstrual cups she'd gotten for them. The toilet paper actually went into the RV where their only bathroom was; though many opted for a 'latrine' they'd dug a ways from camp.

She'd found some crayons and coloring books for the kids, and several boxes of mac and cheese which everyone was happy to see, already tired of the canned beans she'd brought back from her last run. Though that night they had squirrel and rabbit stew, with a few cans of vegetables added in and some rice to make it go further.

Daryl Dixon was already earning his place; much like Glenn had been doing for nearly three weeks.

xxx

“Hey slant eyes!”

Glenn bit her lip, holding back her anger, schooling her face before she turned to look at Merle. “Yeah?”

“Next time yer in Atlanta bring back some booze, not that cheap beer the others like neither.”

Yeah right, like she wanted to let loose a drunken Merle Dixon on the camp, however an outright no would only end badly for her. “If I can find some Merle.”

“If ya can bring back candy for the kiddies you can bring ol' Merle some Southern Comfort.”

“No promises.” And she turned on her heel and went back to her tent; or rather she tried to, because Daryl Dixon stopped her about halfway to her destination. She raised a brow at him as he stood in her path. “Yeah?”

“He's easier to manage when he's drunk.” He had his crossbow over his shoulder. “So if you can find some it'd be better fer all of us.”

Huh. It made her wonder sometimes why Daryl even tried to act as a buffer between his brother and the rest of them. “If I see some on my next run I'll bring it back.” He nodded and started to step away when she decided to offer her own olive branch. “Do you need anything from the city?”

He looked at her for a long moment, chewing on his thumb, a nervous gesture she'd noticed before. “If ya can find find rail lube for crossbows it'd help.”

“Sporting goods store?” She asked, where else would she find such a thing. He nodded. “I'll keep an eye out.” He stepped out of her way then and headed into the woods to bring back the fresh meat that was always in demand. Glenn made her way back to her tent, noticing Merle glaring at her. What the hell was that about?

 

Glenn woke up with a start, 9-iron in her hand and she swung it, catching Merle in the shin. He cried out in pain and surprise as he stumbled through the open flap of her tent. She followed him, her fear and shaking taken over quickly by her rage. What the hell?

She stood over him still in her jeans and baggy t-shirt, bare feet spread apart on the ground and ready to swing at him again. “What the hell Merle?”

He snarled back at her from the ground, rubbing his shin. “Damn boy you got a mean swing. You play ball or somethin' in school?”

“Or somethin'. Seriously dude, what the hell?”

“What's goin' on?” Daryl asked; his ever present crossbow in his hands. “Sounded like someone got jumped.”

“The Chink here attacked me.” Merle snarled.

Glenn gripped her 9-iron tightly. “He was in my tent...I swung before I could think about it.”

“The hell Merle, you don't even like the kid, why you in his space?”

“Thought the little shit mighta been holdin' out on the rest of us and had a liquor stash of his own.”

“I don't have any alcohol. I don't drink. Can't afford to with the dead walking around trying to eat us.”

“Whatever.” Merle got to his feet and limped back to the Dixon's side of the camp. She let out a breath and finally let the shakes win, though she stayed on her feet.

Daryl watched her for a moment. “He won't go sneakin' in yer tent again. Ya got my word.”

Glenn nodded. “Thanks.”

He didn't reply as he followed Merle's passage and Glenn went back in her own tent to calm down enough so she could get ready for her supply run.

 

Worst supply run ever. That's what it was. She sighed and peeked over the roof of the building she was on. Twenty Walkers were below in the street staring up at her, hands reaching, mouths working. Ugh. She shuddered and crawled back to the roof access door and sat in the little bit of shade it provided.

It had started out so well; she'd gotten into the city early and stopped by a pharmacy that was already picked over...except looters hadn't bothered with the children's vitamins that the mothers back at camp wanted, Shane too. So Glenn grabbed every bottle she found, for the kids and the adults, hell one women's daily bottle was going to go into her own pack when she got back.

She'd made it safely out of the pharmacy, and decided to check out the nearest liquor store for that Southern Comfort...not because Merle wanted it...but because Daryl had suggested it. Maybe Merle was a happy drunk?

She'd gone in through the back after picking the lock, she was going to need some more bobby pins soon, and found a Walker waiting for her in the office. A few whacks to the skull and it was dead on the ground, just in time for another Walker wearing an employ shirt to come up behind her. Glenn nearly stumbled, but managed to knock the corpse on its ass and then pummeled its head to a bloody rotten paste.

After that she was much more careful, sneaking into the main part of the store and peeking around the shelves and using the security mirrors in the corners to cover her ass. She got Merle's stupid Southern Comfort, and wrapped it in few paper bags so it wouldn't clank around or end up broken. Then she got a bottle of something much cheaper that could be used for cleaning wounds and sterilizing needles just in case and wrapped it up the same way.

That was when she heard the shuffling, and turned to see a large group of Walkers going by the front of the store. She let out gasp and clapped her hand over her mouth, but it was too late and three of them broke off and headed toward the smashed in doors and her.

Glenn took off, heading out the way she'd come in and straight to the next building, however the other Walkers were milling about and saw her. “Crap!” More shuffling and groaning was coming from all sides...the only place to go was up. Thank building planners for fire escapes. She clambered up the old metal stairs all the way to the top of the building and ran, because damn, there were Walkers on the roof. Why the hell were there Walkers on the roof?

She didn't bother to ponder it long, because they were coming for her, she just kept running and jumped to the next rooftop, skidding and falling to her knees when she landed. “Holy shit.” Glenn gasped out and looked around her new roof top...no Walkers. Hot damn. She turned to look back at the roof she'd just left in time to see them topple over the edge, and hit the pavement below.

“Whoa.” She crawled to look down and grinned. They were dead, dead, dead. Awesome. 

That had been an hour ago...and there were still Walkers in the street cutting off her exit from the roof top. She couldn't simply jump back to the other roof; they'd just surround that building then, which would leave her wasting energy hopping back and forth between buildings. Damn. She needed a diversion, maybe there was something in the building below her?

She picked the lock, proud she'd gotten so good at it, and cautiously entered the building, 9-iron in one hand and penlight in the other. It was an apartment building...and there was movement in the rooms she passed. A shudder went through her and she did her best to keep quiet until she came to one with an open door.

It was empty of anything alive or dead, and had been ransacked; however, she found exactly what she needed to distract the Walkers. She grabbed everything she could use and headed back to the roof and set things up on the far side hoping it would leave the side she need for her escape free and clear.

She got the brightly colored kite up in the air and tied the string to one of the rooftop vents and looked over the side and whistled. The Walkers below looked up and started reaching for the kite. So far so good. She picked up the first plate then and dropped it over the side; it hit the ground with decent crash. A couple more walkers joined the small crowd below. So she threw all the plates over the side, then wound up all the noise making toys she'd found and carefully tossed them down to land on some window awnings.

Glenn ran to the other side of the roof where she'd first landed and looked down. The street and building she'd come from were almost clear...another forty seconds and there were no Walkers on this side. She backed up, took a breath and ran for the edge, jumping and landing on the other roof, ripping out the other knee in her jeans. Damn.

She went for the fire escape she'd originally come up to find it clear and raced down it and to the ground in safety. Then away she went, because she wasn't done yet, she still had to find a sporting goods store.

 

Definitely the worst supply run ever...she was stuck on another rooftop...at least she'd made it to a sporting goods store and had picked up a crossbow maintenance kit before she'd had to flee for the roof. Freaking Walkers.

This rooftop wasn't that bad either...apparently the owner liked to hang out up here at some point because there were a couple of big patio umbrellas and a couple of chairs. She had both umbrellas open and was lying on an old beach towel that had been left behind. This time all she could do was wait them out as there were no kites or kid toys to use as a distraction.

So she ate a couple of energy bars, drank some water and took a nap.

 

By full dark the Walkers were still down there, she couldn't see them, but she could hear them. Damn. She ate a bit of jerky, drank more water and used her backpack for a pillow and went to sleep.

 

By morning the street was clear and she made her way back inside the store to find it about the same...only one Walker was left and she smashed its head in before it even saw her. Then, she went through the store again to see if there was anything else useful.

The ammunition had been picked over and honestly she didn't know crap about guns, or what kind of bullets Shane, Dale, or even Merle would need. She grabbed a few boxes that had fallen to the floor though, just in case...and on a whim she grabbed a pack of crossbow bolts for Daryl.

She was almost out of the store when it caught her eye. A slingshot. That might come in handy. So she grabbed one and three extra bands...and four bags of marbles, and then she was out the door and off to her next stop.

 

It was dark by the time she stumbled into camp, with every available weapon drawn on her. “Way to make a guy feel wanted.” She grumbled as the weapons were put away and replaced with relieved smiles.

“We were getting worried about you son.” Dale told her, clapping her on the shoulder. “Thought you'd be back yesterday.”

“Had to spend the night on a rooftop.”

He looked her up and down. “You're okay though?”

“I'm fine, just tired, and hungry.”

“Daryl got some quail today, so you're in luck.”

“Awesome, just let me unload first?” They nodded at one another and she opened her pack and handed out the supplies she'd gotten. There had been toilet paper in a couple of public restrooms that she'd hit, which went straight to the RV, along with the cheap whiskey where the first aid kit was. The mothers were happy to get the vitamins, not just for the kids but for themselves and their husbands. Even Shane accepted a bottle for himself along with the one for Carl.

“Eww, vitamins.” Carl made a face.

Glenn laughed. “Easy dude, I got you kids a variety, some of them are the gummy bears.”

“Oh, thanks Glenn.”

“And there's the candy.” She said as she passed out little individual bags of goodies for all the kids, surrounded by a chorus of thank you’s.

“Seems like you had a good run, despite your trouble.” Shane told her, eyeing her ripped jeans.

“Yeah...and here...” She fished out the boxes of ammo. “I have no idea what you guys needed, but this is what I could find this run.”

Shane accepted the worse for wear boxes with a grin. “Dale's rifle will take these. Good work kid. Now get yourself some grub, you've earned it and we appreciate everything thing you're doin' for us.”

“Did you find anymore mac'n cheese?” Sophia asked.

Glenn grinned and held up the second bag she'd accumulated on her run. “No, but this is filled with SpaghettiOs. Think you can put it with the rest of the food for me?”

Sophia nodded and nearly staggered under the weight. “Thanks Mr. Glenn.”

“You're welcome Sophia.” Then she headed straight for the food and Carol handed her a plate with roasted quail and macaroni and cheese. Glenn nodded at her in thanks and slipped her a carton of cigarettes before sitting beside Amy to devour her food.

Conversation was light and she didn't go into detail about what had happened in the city. If they started worrying someone might decide to come with her and Glenn wasn't sure she could handle being responsible for another person in such a hostile environment.

Before she headed to her tent she pulled another bag of candy out and handed it to Amy who smiled at her. Then she did her best not to stagger or limp to her tent...where Merle and Daryl Dixon were waiting for her.

“The quail was good.” She said by way of greeting.

Merle sneered at her and looked down at her ripped jeans. “Find someone to go down on yer knees fer, Chink.”

She rolled her eyes and pulled the wrapped bottle out of her bag and tossed it to him. “Take your Southern Comfort and go.” He unwrapped the bottle with a grin, leaving the paper bags on the ground and walked back to their own tent.

“Spent the night on a roof huh?” Daryl asked, eying her torn jeans much like Shane and Merle had, though he lacked Merle's hostility.

She shrugged and pulled out the maintenance kit. “I was in a hurry so I grabbed this instead of just the lube stuff you wanted.”

He accepted the kit with wide eyes. “Thanks.”

“Will it work?”

Daryl nodded. “Yeah...what kinda weapons you take with you when you go on yer runs?” She patted the 9-iron in her belt loop and he scoffed. “That's it?”

“Dude, I don't want to bring every Walker in the city down on me. My 9-iron is quiet.” Then she smiled. “I did pick up a sling shot today that I might learn to use.”

He scoffed again. “Whatever.” And he left her alone at her tent. Well then.

xxx

She had watch the next morning, Dale woke her up though he never entered her tent and he handed her his rifle so she could climb up and take her post on top of the RV. Glenn looked at him grumpily. “You realize I don't know how to use this thing.”

“We'll have to fix that soon won't we?” He smiled at her. “Now come on, it’s your watch and I need some sleep.”

Taking watch wasn't that bad, and the men took turns, though Andrea insisted on having a turn as well which was fine since Ed did nothing but smoke and glare at everyone all day long. Glenn had a turn at watch because everyone still thought she was a guy and that was fine, in fact she wanted to keep it that way. Especially in the case of Merle Dixon, he reminded her too much of the men who'd grabbed her outside Atlanta when she was just trying to bypass the city entirely.

They hadn't raped her...thank god...she'd gotten away before they'd had the chance...but it had been way too close. Which led to her chopping off her hair and strapping down her chest, and so far it was working. No one knew she was a woman, which meant she was that much safer. 

 

Her shift lasted two hours, after which Andrea climbed onto the roof to take over so Glenn could get some breakfast. “The other women are going to do laundry down at the lake if you want give them your clothes.”

Glenn nodded. “Thanks.” She climbed down, grabbed some oatmeal and then her clothes, at least the ones she was willing to let the women see. Carol was waiting for her when she emerged from her tent and Glenn handed them off. “Thanks Carol.”

“It’s no problem; might as well do everyone’s at once.” When she left Glenn went back into her tent, glad she wasn't on her period that week. It would be hard to explain blood on her boxers in case it started before she had a cup in.

That done, she napped for a while, maybe an hour, before she got back up. She wanted to practice with her new sling shot. So she got her twine out and gathered up some empty soda cans that had been piling up in a paper bag and started for the woods.

“Goin' somewhere?” Daryl asked; startling her so much she dropped the bag of cans.

“Jesus, don't do that.”

He snorted and eyed the sling shot in her hand. “Yer serious about that thing.”

“Well I don't have a gun or a crossbow...Oh! Hold that thought.” She dove back into her tent and grabbed her bag, the 5 pack of crossbow bolts forgotten in the bottom of it. When she reemerged from her tent Daryl had a brow raised in question at her actions. “I forgot to give you this last night.” She held up the bolts and his eyes widened. “Er...are they the right kind?”

He took them from her hand and nodded. “Yeah.”

“Oh, good.”

“I'll help ya set up yer targets.”

“Um...thanks.”

“Come on Chinaman.” He turned to walk into the woods and she followed him, stuffing her sling shot, twine and cans into her backpack. Her 9-iron in her belt-loop like always.

She huffed and called after him as she ran to catch up. “I'm Korean!”

“Whatever.”

She snorted but kept following him and together they got the twine and cans set up so she could practice shooting them with her sling shot and marbles.

It was a lot harder than she thought it would be, and his watching her didn't necessarily make things easier, but after she'd used about half a bag of marbles she'd figured out how to aim the damn thing. She'd even managed to dent the cans pretty well.

“Yer best bet with that thing is to go fer tha eyes.”

“I thought of that...but it’s better than nothing since we don't have many guns. Could always use it for a distraction too, make noise in a different direction you know?”

He nodded. “Noticed you gave Walsh some ammo.”

She aimed and let another marble loose; it actually put a hole in the can and fell inside of it. “Only three boxes, I didn't know what kind to look for...he said they'll work for Dale's rifle.” Then she looked at him. “Let me know what kind Merle needs and I'll keep an eye out.”

He nodded, chewing on his thumb as she let another marble fly, making the hole in the can bigger, the marble clanking to the bottom with the other one. “Wanna try with the bow?”

Glenn eyed him. “Why?”

“Do ya wanna learn or not?”

“Geeze, fine, yes.”

She bagged her slingshot and the rest of her marbles so he could walk her through the use of his cross bow. How to load it, pull it back and lock it, which took almost more strength than she had and explained the state of his biceps. Then they aimed at an x he'd carved into a tree.

“Why not the cans?” She'd asked.

“Them arrows will go right through 'em and I don't wanna go lookin' for em.” And then she'd fired...and missed the damn x. In fact she hit nearly three feet higher than she'd meant too.

“Oops.”

“Keep firin' till ya run out, then ya can get it down.”

“Okay.” She took the next arrow, loaded and locked it, damn that was hard, and aimed again...and hit the tree to the right. “Crap.”

“Again.”

“Yes boss.” She did it over and over and by the last arrow she'd gotten within a few inches of the stupid x.

“Not bad...now get my arrows.”

Glenn rolled her eyes and collected all the arrows, tugging them out of the trees and stump she'd hit, leaving the first one for last. That one she had to climb the tree a bit to retrieve, but she was good at climbing trees and had it pulled free in no time. She looked down and dropped the arrow into Daryl's waiting hand, though his eyes seemed glued to her ass. Shit, had she ripped her pants in the climb? She got back down, breaking his view and smiled. “Thanks for the help and lesson.”

He nodded and walked back towards camp without a word, she patted her hands over her backside relieved to find no tears or holes.

 

She spent the afternoon helping Jim set up lines of empty food cans as an alarm system, something she was familiar with. When he questioned her strange expertise at their current activity she admitted she'd done the same when she'd been holed up in an old deer stand for a few days.

When they were done Carol had her clothes clean and mostly dry and Glenn thanked her and put them up on her own clothesline by her tent, and while everyone else was busy she headed down to the lake with fresh clothes and her own toiletries.

“Bathtime?” Shane asked her as she passed him.

“Yeah, I'll be quick as I can.”

“You need someone to watch your back.” It was a statement, not a question.

She shook her head. “I'll be fine; I've got my 9-iron.”

“You never let that club leave your side do you?”

“Nope, it’s saved my ass too many times.”

He relented, not wanting to watch over her himself, and she couldn't blame him...he had a kid to look after. Carl didn't have anyone else since his parents died, and he always came first for Shane. Glenn couldn't even be mad about that. “Be careful.” He told her. “Yell if you need help.”

“I will.”

 

The sun would be up still for a few hours and the water would be a little warmer at the edge where they'd set up a bathing station. It wasn't much more than couple of buckets and shower curtain, but it would do...though the curtain wouldn't go all the way around, it just blocked one side. Still it was better than nothing and offered at least a little privacy.

She got behind the curtain and stripped, taking great pleasure in unwrapping her chest, before wading into the water to get good and wet. Luckily she wasn't super endowed in the breast area, or she'd have been miserable having to keep herself wrapped up all the time. The only times she went without the wrapping was when she bathed and when she slept, she'd lucked out when she'd found the binder, but when it needed washing she had to settle for ace bandages.

Once she was soaked she got back out and shampooed her hair, rinsing it with the bucket of water so the majority of the shampoo wouldn't go back in the lake. Then she took another dip to get the rest out of her hair, adding just a touch of conditioner. She filled the bucket again and got her wash cloth and soap and started to scrub, sitting on the boulder that was conveniently behind her privacy curtain.

She never heard the footsteps as they approached, never had any clue at all that she wasn't alone until the curtain was yanked back. Glenn froze, heart racing as she turned, forgetting to cover herself in her shock. Her eyes met Daryl's and they were as wide in surprise as she imagined hers must be.

They stared at one another for a long moment before she curled in on herself to hide her breasts, feeling her face heat up in embarrassment. “Did-did you need something Daryl?”

“Yer a woman.” He stated.

She sighed and slipped back into the water so she could face him and still be covered. “Yeah.”

“Everyone thinks yer a man. Why?”

“Everyone made assumptions, I never corrected them.”

“Why? You one of them transgenders?”

She shook her head. “Pretending to be a man was safer.”

He snorted. “How's that?”

She raised a brow at him, much like he had done to her earlier that day and her blush faded. “Men are less likely to be raped than women...and I've already gotten too close.”

His blue eyes narrowed, in what might have been anger. “Someone hurt you?”

“They're dead now.”

“Good. You get'em with that club o' yers?”

Glenn shook her head. “No...when they...when they grabbed me they'd already had a woman at their camp. They'd...I don't know how many times they'd raped her...but the last time one of them had choked her to death.” She shuddered at the memory, trying to make herself appear even smaller in the water. “Then one of them raped her corpse...and she came back in the middle of it and ripped his throat out. I got away in the panic and shooting.”

“Fuck...did she get bit?”

“No...That was weird thing...she hadn't been bit or scratched or anything...just...what they had done to her. She came back anyway.”

“Damn...and they didn't...”

“They were too busy getting eaten by her and shooting each other...they had no idea to go for the brain.”

“And you got away.”

Glenn shrugged. “When they grabbed me I was looking for a good place to go to the bathroom...I'd left my pack up in a tree. It was the one time I didn't have my 9-iron with me...I don't leave it behind, ever, anymore.”

“Smart girl.”

“Now anyway...can you...not tell anyone about this?”

“You afraid of anyone in camp?” He asked her with a disbelieving snort. She was, but didn't want to piss him off by mentioning his brother; her pause spoke loud enough though. “Merle ain't a rapist.”

“Okay...but if they know I'm a woman they might not let me go on supply runs.”

“Maybe you shouldn't...how'd ya rip the knees in yer jeans?”

“Jumping from rooftop to rooftop.”

“Damn girl. Ya crazy or somethin'?”

“Didn't want to get eaten...had no idea there would be Walkers on the roof.” She grinned at him fiercely then. “It was awesome when they tried to follow me and fell to the alley below. Cracked their skulls wide open.”

“Definitely crazy.”

“Or something.” She shot back. “Daryl, I've learned my way around the outskirts pretty well. I'm good at what I've been doing, and I'm the fastest, I didn’t lie about that. I don't need Shane and Dale suddenly treating me like I'm fragile and can't do my job.”

He frowned, but eventually nodded in agreement. “Yer gonna need more practice with that slingshot o' yers...and get yerself a lady's crossbow. It'll be easier for ya ta use, I'll help ya. If ya won't take a gun you'll need somethin' else.”

She nodded. “Thanks...um...can you close the curtain now so I can finish?”

He stiffened and his face grew red, as if suddenly remembering she was naked in the water and nodded. “I'll keep watch fer ya.” And he pulled the curtain back into place returning her privacy to her.

She crept back out of the water and started soaping up again, rinsing off with the bucket. Then she stood and cursed. “Shit.”

“What?” Daryl asked, though he didn't move the curtain.

“Nothing life threatening...just bleeding.”

“You need some tendin' to? I'm decent with needle and thread, had to stitch up Merle and me a few times.”

“Not that kind of bleeding...my period started.”

“Oh. Don't women track that sorta thing?”

“Stress can throw it off though, make it late, and if you hadn't noticed it’s a zombie apocalypse and that's pretty stressful.”

“I guess...You uh...ya need anythin' from yer tent?”

“No, I've something in my bag.” She slipped into the water again for a full rinse and then got the menstrual cup out of her bag, put it in and dried off. She used the buckets to rinse the blood off the rock hiding evidence of her gender. Once she was dressed and her chest wrapped she spoke up. “I'm decent.”

The curtain moved again and he stared at her, taking in her old ball cap, t-shirt and short sleeved button up that hung open. Her jeans were men's jeans and her sneakers were pretty much gender neutral. “If I hadn't seen ya...” He shook his head. “How'd ya get yer...” He gestured to his own chest, at a loss for words.

“I'm, uh, not very big there, as you saw...I've got them strapped down.”

“Don't it hurt?”

“It doesn't feel good, but I'll take safety over comfort.” She got her shoes tied and gathered up her dirty clothes, stuffing them in her backpack and grabbed her 9-iron. “Thanks for keeping watch.”

“Had too.” He mumbled. “Merle offered...and he don't like you. Walsh and I thought I'd be a better watchdog.”

She shuddered and nodded. “Thanks.” The walk back to camp was quiet after that, and they parted ways once they entered the clearing, him to his and Merle's fire pit, her to her tent. She tossed her backpack inside before going in after it and lying on her sleeping bag and napped until supper.

xxx

The next few days was like walking around in another reality. It was strange to suddenly have someone in on her secret...especially when that someone was Daryl Dixon. She wasn't the only one who thought so either, not that anyone else knew her secret...but with him suddenly paying more attention to her it earned them some raised brows and curious glances.

Daryl brushed off the looks and told her to follow him so she'd know how to survive in the woods. She followed, because why not? Surviving was a good thing in her book and he had her practicing with his old arrows wanting to save the new ones for game. He still thought she'd be better with a ladies crossbow, but at least until she found one she'd be familiar with his.

 

Another time he took her even farther into the woods, a few miles away, and showed her how to load and unload Merle's hand gun. Then how to shoot it, and honestly, after the slingshot and the crossbow the gun was rather easy. It did lead to a few problems though.

Neither Dale nor Shane were happy about the gunshots when they got back, even though they'd been far from camp before she'd used the gun. Daryl had argued that everyone in camp should know how to shoot, and since Glenn was the one making supply runs he'd needed to know how to defend himself.

Merle, of course, was pissed because they'd used his ammo and gun and Glenn promised to look for more ammo on her next run...and more Southern Comfort. It pacified him for the time being, but the looks he gave her and Daryl made her want to hide.

 

Despite everything they started some sort of routine. On the days she bathed, he stood watch; on the days that he bathed she did the same. Not that he particularly trusted her to save his ass should a Walker come up on them...but it felt like an even trade rather than charity.

The lessons with the crossbow continued and expanded to knife throwing...which she sucked at but he didn't let her quit. He'd even scolded her when he found out she didn't have a decent knife and told her to start looking for one. Glenn took it in stride, being grumpy about her safety or lack of it meant he cared. Which was weird...but apparently they were becoming friends. Maybe.

 

She wasn't sure about the friend thing when he insisted she learn how to skin a rabbit, in fact that felt freaking evil. Sure they were tasty after the hide had been removed...but it didn't mean she wanted to be one to remove that hide. He'd countered her squeamishness with a simple “Ya wanna eat don't ya?”

She had...so she did...skin the rabbit that is, her stomach tossing and turning uncomfortably the entire time. Somehow she managed it though, without throwing up the SpaghettiOs they'd had for lunch. Then he made her do the next rabbit...and half the squirrels he'd gotten. By supper she didn't really have much of an appetite left, but still ate a few bites of the stew that had been made with them.

xxx

Glenn was getting ready to go for another supply run, having woken up just before dawn, getting dressed and making sure her backpack was mostly empty except for a couple of water bottles, granola bars and jerky. The others had given her their lists the night before and she was out of her tent and halfway down the trail that led to the road when large hands grabbed her.

“I'm gonna beat the faggot right out of you boy! Teach ya ta put the moves on my little brother.”

Glenn kicked him in the nuts and bashed him in the ribs with her 9-iron and he dropped her with a yell. She was able to scramble away, club clenched in her hands, ready for him if he came after her again. He did too, lurching at her with murder in his eyes in the light of the first morning rays.

Daryl came out of nowhere like a backwoods ninja, tossing her his crossbow before he tackled Merle to the ground. They wrestled and cursed and Daryl punched Merle in the face before they broke apart glaring at each other.

“What the hell Merle?”

“Came ta save yer little Chink boyfriend Darleena?”

Daryl frowned at him. “Ya think we're fuckin'?”

“What else would ya be doin' with the little fag?”

Glenn dropped the crossbow she was shaking so bad, she couldn't breathe and struggled to undo the straps on her chest. Daryl was there at her side in an instant, hands reaching up and undoing the straps that held her binding in place. She took several thankful breaths and Daryl held up the binding for Merle to see. “Glenn's a woman you dumbass and ya just scared the hell outta her...after I done told her you ain't rapist. Guess she won't believe me now.”

“What the hell she doin' all that for?”

“Because she was almost raped when she was on her own Merle, dressin' like man made her safer. Less likely to get jumped...and then ya pull yer bullshit 'cause you think she's gay fer me. Pull yer head outta yer ass.”

Merle didn't seem to know what to do with all this new information. “So...what the hell you two been doin' off by yerselves?”

“Teachin' her how ta survive. Girl's been goin' inta the city by herself with only that golf club. Woman should know how ta take care of herself.”

“And you ain't sweet on her?” Merle asked.

Daryl's cheeks grew pink and he wouldn't meet Glenn's eyes. “Didn't say that.”

“At least she's cute for chink-a.”

“She's Korean.” Daryl corrected him.

Merle rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Give the girl a knife and let her get on her way. I need more booze.”

“You won't tell anyone?” Glenn finally managed to speak still shocked from the entire encounter.

“Nah, it’s more fun ta watch 'em all think the two of you are havin' a big faggot romance. Gives 'em somethin' ta talk about besides how much they hate me.” With that he limped back toward camp. “Besides gotta respect a woman who can get the drop on me twice...you swing a mean club.”

When they were alone Glenn stared at Daryl. “What the hell?”

“He won't try nothin' again. Merle's a lot o' things...but he don't hurt women.” He held up her binding. “You want this back?”

“Yeah...just...hang on.” She turned her back to him, slipping off her backpack before taking off her shirt. She handed it to him over her shoulder and he gave her the binding so she could wrap herself back up. When she was all covered she took her shirt back and put it on. “So...”

He picked up her backpack and 9-iron and handed them to her. “Got yer slingshot?”

“Back pocket...marbles in my left pocket...more in the backpack.”

He handed her a pocket knife, the kind that clipped to the pocket. “He's right about ya needing a knife; you can borrow this one until you find one ya like.”

She swallowed and accepted it, clipping it in place, then slid the 9-iron through her belt-loop. “Do you want anything from the city?”

“Just come back safe, that'll be enough.”

“What about...you implied...”

“We'll talk about that later when ya come back.”

Glenn nodded. “Okay then...” And she turned and continued down the path as if she'd never been interrupted.

“Get yerself a crossbow.” Daryl called after her.

She waved without looking back and continued walking, a small smile on her face...and when she came back that night she had her very own lady's crossbow and more bolts for both of them.

xxx

It was a strange courtship, and that's exactly what it was, though only they and Merle knew what was going on. They often shared watch together so they could practice with the crossbows after. No one actually thought she and Daryl were having some big gay romance...not when Sophia and Carl had followed them and actually saw her using her new crossbow. It quieted a few tongues at least just long enough for the next shock to happen...he took her hunting. 

The first time she got a squirrel had been both exhilarating...and nauseating. Killing her first rabbit was worse though and she didn't think she'd ever get used to killing them. Still he taught her how to hunt, even gave her a few tracking lessons, enough to get by, enough to give him peace of mind. The first time she shot a quail she'd grinned and bounced a bit, so excited that she hugged the man, and they both froze in surprise.

He'd stared down at her for a moment before his lips pressed to hers in a barely there kiss. Then he pulled back. “That okay?”

Glenn had nodded. “Very okay.” And they'd kissed again, deeper this time. It was a good thing the kids didn't follow them anymore because the lessons and hunting turned into partial make out sessions.

 

It was late at night and Glenn was alone in her tent reading a new paperback she'd gotten a few runs ago by the light of her battery lantern. She only had a few chapters left and she wanted to know how the book ended, no matter the battery usage. Footsteps outside her tent were the only thing that made her pull her attention away from the book in her hands. She eyed the flap, still open to let in the night breeze. “Hello?”

“It’s me.” Daryl's voice was as soft as his approach had been.

Glenn smiled and closed her book. “Come in Daryl.”

He slipped inside the tent, zipping it closed behind him and settled on her sleeping bag in front of her. “You goin' back inta the city in a couple o' days?”

“Yeah, you need anything?” Daryl shook his head, and Glenn realized she hadn't seen his left hand yet, like he was hiding something behind his back. “Daryl? Everything okay?”

“I ain't good with words, but ya know yer important ta me, right?”

She nodded. “Yeah, I know.”

“Good.” He revealed the small bouquet of daisies he'd been hiding. The stems had been cut short and they were tied together with familiar twine. “I ain't got any candy or nothin' besides yer one who makes all the supply runs.” She reached for the daisies, just barely touching the petals and she felt her eyes water. Daryl's voice was gruff and a little alarmed. “Didn't mean ta make ya cry Glenn.”

She smiled and took his free hand in hers. “No one's ever given me flowers before, never anyone who mattered.”

“Just wanted ya ta know before ya went runnin' off riskin' yer life for toilet paper.”

Glenn snickered. “And you said you weren't good with words...can you stay a while?”

“Merle's on watch.” He reached for the lantern and turned it down low. “I can stay a while.”

She grinned and took the flowers and placed them on her book before crawling into his lap and covering his mouth with hers. His arms wrapped around her and his hands stuttered at the bottom of her shirt. Glenn broke the kiss to pull it over her head revealing she wasn't wearing her binding. His sharp blue eyes widened just a bit in appreciation and those rough hands were gentler than she thought possible as they cupped her breasts.

Glenn always thought them meager and was glad they were so small these days, but the way Daryl treated them one would think she was a D cup. The way he dipped his head, and took one nipple into his mouth to suckle before repeating the action with the other, showed he didn't care about the size. As long as he got to touch her like this he seemed satisfied.

Every time another piece of clothing, his or hers, was about to be taken off he looked at her eyes in question, silently asking if it was okay. And every time she smiled and nodded, eager to touch him just as much and run her hands over his chest and back and the scars she knew were there.

Daryl's gentleness didn't surprise her anymore, in fact she cherished it as his hands slid down her body to pull her too him. Holding her open so he could taste her and bring her to the brink with his tongue and lips before sliding back up to slide inside of her. He fit perfectly and her legs wrapped around him as if they belonged there as he rocked inside of her.

She hadn't had many lovers before Daryl, a total of two actually, so she hadn't had much to compare him too, but it didn't matter. Whether it was slowly making love, or fast stolen moments in the woods, Daryl had ruined her for anyone else, and she was glad of it. She couldn't imagine being with anyone else like this...letting anyone else touch her the way he did.

He turned them so she was on top, his hands on her hips to help her move, though one slipped down to flick her clit every now and then and when she was about to come he sat up to swallow her gasp, thrusting up into her and spilling inside of her. Daryl pulled back and looked at her.

“You okay?”

Glenn smiled. “Perfect.”

xxx

 

_“Hey, dumbass.”_

 

Worst supply run ever and it was all Merle's fault...okay...it wasn't entirely Merle's fault. But the part where she had an entire group with her was Merle's fault.

 

_“Yeah you in the tank.”_

 

She'd been getting ready to go on her supply run the night before when Merle had told her he was coming along with her. Glenn had objected, and loudly because she'd been doing just fine on her own, getting in and out with little trouble. He'd been insistent though, and just as loud in his conviction. Which brought them to the attention of the rest of the camp...and Andrea, T-Dog, Jacqui and Morales decided to come too. All because they didn't trust Merle alone with her.

So that part was totally his fault...the part that wasn't was the damn cowboy that came riding into town, literally. The crazy guy in a cop's uniform had been on horseback and rode right into a swarm of Walkers. That poor horse didn't make it, its fate sealed when the dead pulled it to the ground.

She thought the cowboy had suffered the same fate when he'd escaped underneath a tank, the Walkers crawling after him. Then a shot rang out from the inside the tank, Glenn wondered if he'd offed himself in a panic, but then amazingly a moment later he staggered to the top and closed the hatch. Crazy bastard was alive...must have been a Walker in the tank.

 

_“You cozy in there?”_

 

She used one of the radio's they'd found, dropped by a security guard or a cop or soldier, who the hell knew, and tried to contact the cowboy cop. All was quiet on the other end so she tried again. “Hey, cowboy, you alive?"

A frantic, "Hello. Hello?" Came back at her.

"There you are, was worried for a sec."

"Do you have eyes on me?"

Glenn wanted to roll her eyes. "How else would I know you're in that tank?"

"You have any good news for me?"

"No, you're surrounded by Walkers."

"Any advice that might help get me out of here?"

"Sure, open the hatch and make a run for it."

There was a pause. "That's the best you got?"

She huffed and replied. "It’s not as dumb as it sounds; most of them are eating your horse. There's still one on the tank and some stragglers between you and me. Go to the street on the right side of the tank, there's an alley up the street maybe fifty yards, be there."

"What about the bag of guns and ammo I dropped."

"Not an option... use what you have on you, if you have anything left."

"A Baretta, fifteen rounds."

"Make them count, it’s now or never cowboy, so cowboy up."

"What's your name?"

"Dude have you not been listening? You don't have time for this, move!" And then Glenn pocketed her radio and ran across the roof and made her way down to the alley, hoping the crazy cop would do as she said.

When she heard the gunshots it gave her hope that she'd get his stupid cop ass out of the street alive. She didn't bother counting how many shots he made, because he'd probably use them all. Glenn nearly screamed when he met her at the end of the alley, gun in hand pointed at her face.

"Whoa! Not dead, not dead!" She yelled at him, and he lowered the gun in shocked relief before she grabbed his shoulder and started dragging him along. "Come on!" He trundled along after her, using up the rest of is bullets to shoot at the Walkers coming for them. "What the hell! Come on!" And it’s not that she didn't appreciate his marksmanship, the guy killed every Walker he shot...but running was more important now.

He followed her up the maintenance ladder to the first landing where they were able to catch their breath. "Thank you."

"Yeah. You're welcome. What the hell man, you always wander into hostile territory like that?"

"Not always." He held out his hand. "I'm Rick."

Glenn shook it. "Glenn. You're still a dumbass." They released hands and both glanced down.

“That does not look good.”

“It could be worse,” Glenn assured him. “They could know how to climb.”

“They don't? They swarmed the tank easily enough.”

“There's a big difference between swarming a tank and climbing a ladder. Come on.” He placed his empty gun in her pack and she started climbing again, him a few steps behind. 

When they got to the roof he asked; “Why'd you stick out your neck for me, you didn't have too.”

Glenn led him from rooftop to rooftop until they came to a roof access point which wasn't much more than a vertical tunnel with a ladder. She opened the hatch and tossed her pack down. “I'm trying to build up my karma so that when I end up shit creek someone will save my ass.”

He followed her down the ladder, pulling the hatch closed behind them and followed her out of the utility space the ladder ended at. They ran across empty office spaces, abandoned when the city went to shit until they got to their destination. An outdoor staircase that led to a blocked off alley and the back entrance of the department store the others were hiding in. Glenn pulled out her radio to let them know they were coming.

“I'm back, get the door. Got the cowboy and four geeks in the alley.” They got to the bottom of the stairs and she pocketed her radio and pulled her 9-iron out of her belt loop. The first Walker came at her and she swung, splattering brain content onto the next one. Then the door opened and T-Dog and Morales stormed out in padded umpire armor and baseball bats, taking out two more. “Come on!” The four of them ran inside, leaving one geek in the alley.

They got inside only to have Andrea go nuts on the cowboy, her gun in his face. “You bastard, we should kill you for what you've done.”

Glenn waved her 9-iron at the other woman. “I did not just risk my own ass so you could shoot him in the face.”

“But he-”

“I don't care. My supply run, my rules. Back off.”

She did, thank goodness, because Glenn wasn't quite sure how she would have backed up her words and taking out Andrea's kneecaps would only slow the rest of them down. It didn't stop Andrea from freaking out a little though in a broken voice.

“We're dead, you've killed us.” Her gun was pointed at the floor at least.

“I don't understand.”

Glenn let Morales explain, because frankly she wanted a chance to catch her breath and wipe the rotted brain matter off her 9-iron. She followed them though, snagging a t-shirt once they were in the main part of the department store for that task and watched as Morales hit home to Rick about how much trouble they were in because of his bumbling. They were trapped, and the front glass doors weren't going to hold for long, the first set of them were already cracking.

“You practically rang the dinner bell.” Andrea added.

The increased groans and growls sent them all scurrying into the backroom again like mice. There was some confusion after that, about what exactly cowboy had been doing, he seemed to think the refugee center was still up and running. Hell poor Rick seemed totally clueless, where had he been since the start of the apocalypse?

The sound of gunshots made them all freeze and Glenn closed her eyes with a curse. Merle.

Andrea was on the verge of panic again. “Was that Dixon?” And up the stairs to the roof they went, where Merle was popping off Walkers like it was a shooting gallery at a fair. The hell?

 

This part. This part was definitely Merle's fault. Cowboy looked jarred from the hit to the face he'd taken and T-Dog was on the ground bleeding from the beating and Merle had a handgun trained on him.

Worst supply run ever.

And she'd never be proud of it, but she snapped, her 9-iron swinging before she even realized what she was doing. She caught the much larger man in his ribs, twice in quick succession, and kicked the gun out of his hand as he went down. Cowboy came at him with handcuffs and cuffed him to a metal pipe.

“Ya damn Chink!”

She gripped her club tight. “My supply run, my rules. What the hell Merle? It’s one thing for officer clueless to go all gun happy when he didn't know what was going on...but you know the score!”

Rick was looking close at Merle's face, and flicked the other man's nose before pulling something out of his vest pocket. “Got something a little white there.” And then he was tossing that something over the edge of the roof.

“Hey you can't do that, that's my stuff!”

Glenn wanted to hit him again. “You're high?”

“Gonna die anyway, what's it matter.”

“We don't have to die today ass-hat!” She turned away; unable to look at him...how the Dixon brothers could be so damn different was beyond her. Rick and Morales were talking and she didn't bother listening...the day wasn't over and she just felt so done...and scared that she'd never see Daryl again.

Rick had a couple of ideas though to get them out...the first was to look for a way underground in the sewers. The sewers were blocked off though so they had to regroup and think of something else. Rick spotted some box vans at a construction lot down the street, and said something about there being keys on site. They followed him back down, except Glenn; she stayed behind for a moment.

Merle noticed her staring at him. “What do ya want chink-a.” He was a racist asshole, and had put them in danger because he was high...but he'd kept her secret. Even now.

She tossed him a bobby pin and he caught it. “For the handcuffs, just in case.” Then she left the roof to join the others just in time to really hate Rick's plan, and him a little.

 

“Why do I have to be covered in rotten sludge?” She asked, trying to breathe as little as possible.

“Your supply run, your rules is what you said.” T-Dog told her. “You're in charge, as leader of the run you get volunteered.”

“Not to mention you know the area better than anyone, you've proved that to me.” Rick offered. “And you know how to move fast and get in and out of a bad situation.”

They were all good points, but it didn't mean she had to like it, especially the part where she lost face and threw up the protein bar she had for lunch. “You suck.”

“Sorry.” At least T-Dog looked like he meant it.

“Do we smell like them?” Rick asked, and that had been the whole point of getting covered in Walker gore. If she and Rick smelled like Walkers, the others out there wouldn't go after them and eat them.

Andrea nodded, looking as disgusted as Glenn felt. “Oh yeah.” Then she offered her gun to Glenn. “Just in case, and slipped in the front of Glenn's jeans.

“Good...if we make it back, be ready.”

“I'm covered in guts...I'm not dying like this.” Glenn muttered. “We're making it back.”

That got her a few smiles, but T-Dog was a little more serious. “What about Merle Dixon?” Rick handed him the handcuff key and Glenn felt a little relieved about that, she'd been a little worried that they'd leave him up there. Maybe he wouldn't need that bobby pin after all.

 

They stepped outside, their new trench coats covered in gore, hands, feet and intestines tied and hanging from their necks. The one remaining Walker in the alley didn't even glance at them. Awesome. Maybe she should Walker cosplay for every run, there would be no stopping her. Glenn pushed those thoughts aside and tried to concentrate on the here and now, a wandering mind could get the both of them killed, and like she told the others, she wasn't dying covered in gore.

The end of the alley had been blocked off with a city bus; it had been that way when Glenn had first come to the department store, so they crawled under it and joined the masses. Rick had the fire ax in hand that he'd used to butcher the Walker and Glen had her 9-iron, and they each had a hand gun. That was it and Glenn hoped they made it, walking slowly and staggering, trying to move like the dead. She tried not to be too excited about it, they didn't want to draw attention to themselves, make it obvious they were different and alive.

It went well...until the thunder rolled...and the rain started. “Keep walking.” Rick told her.

“Well I'm not gonna start dancing.” She grumbled back.

The problem with the rain was that well, rain was water, and water was cleansing. It was washing the smell and the gore right off of them. The Walkers were starting to sniff around; they could smell fresh food...and were starting to close in on them. Dear God she was gonna die covered in Walker gore. She was never gonna see Daryl again. Shit.

One Walker roared at Rick and Rick split its head in half with his ax. Glenn whipped her 9-iron around with her usual efficiency. “Run!” Rick yelled, and he didn't have to tell Glenn twice. They ran for it, clubbing and slashing at the Walkers that came at them, not stopping when they got to the chain-link fence around the construction site, simply throwing their ax and 9-iron over it before scaling it themselves.

Glenn got over it first since she ended up way ahead of him once the running started; she hadn't been kidding anyone when she'd claimed to be the fastest. Off came the coat covered in all things nasty, the severed hand and foot bouncing a bit as they hit the pavement. There was no time to appreciate being free of that crap, instead she went straight to the outdoor cabinet thing on the side of the building where the keys would be. 

It was locked, of course, so she dug a bobby pin out of her pocket and picked it with a speed that surprised even herself. Rick didn't notice her exercise in crime; he was too busy shooting at the geeks to keep them at bay.

She grabbed a set of keys and yelled at him. “Rick!” He turned to face her and she tossed him the keys, then they ran for a van. He got it started just as a Walker started to claw at Glenn's passenger window. He put it in gear and busted out of the far gate, Glenn noticed bitterly that the rain had stopped.

“How the hell are we gonna get the others out?”

“We'll need to draw them away.” He said it like it was the most obvious course of action.

“Yeah but how?”

“Noise, get the others on the radio, tell them to be ready by the roll up doors in the front.”

 

Noise turned out to be a bright red brand new mustang, which was awesome; Rick broke out the window and used a screwdriver in the ignition to start it. Maybe he had noticed her lock picking, but had no room to talk since he knew how to steal a car. Glenn was the one behind the wheel providing the distraction and drawing the Walkers away using the car alarm that sounded a lot like a siren. Noise. Yeah, this was going to work.

She drove ahead and waited for the Walkers in front of the store to swarm her a bit, drawing them from the store, and then she took off, the dead following her in their one track quest for food. It was working, Rick was a freaking genius, and she really needed to get the cowboy's last name once they were safe back at camp.

 

It was smooth sailing once they got out of the city no traffic jams at all on the way out, a quick radio check in and Glenn breathed a sigh of relief. They'd made it.

xxx

Glenn raced ahead of them, she couldn't help it. She'd never driven a car this cool or this fast and she relished the feeling of the wind whipping around her. She could have done without the wailing of the alarm in her ears, but she didn't know how to turn the stupid thing off and she had no plans of stopping until she got to the quarry.

She continued to race ahead all the way to the hills, the car alarm still going strong, she had a feeling it wasn't going to stop without help. When she got to the quarry and got out of the car pretty much the entire camp was standing around waiting for her, since she'd so loudly announced her arrival. She gave a halfhearted wave, no one looked happy to see her.

“Turn that damn thing off!” Was the first thing Dale said to her.

Glenn shrugged. “I would if I knew how.”

Several of them started talking at once, yelling really, and trying to be heard over the alarm. Shane wanted her to pop the hood, Amy wanted to know where Andrea was and Dale was scolding her. Geez. Glenn popped the hood and Jim did something that made the alarm stop. Thank God.

“Why isn't she with you? Is she okay? Where is she?” Amy's rapid fire questions took the place of the alarm, her voice nearly as distressed as the wailing had been.

“She's with the others, I was the diversion, and they said they made it over the radio.”

Shane was still glaring at her like she was the stupidest person on earth, at least she hadn't rode into Atlanta and gotten a horse killed. “What were you thinkin'? You tryin' to draw every Walker for miles?”

“I said I didn't know how to turn it off, sorry.”

“I think we're okay.” Dale was trying for reassurance.

Shane wasn't buying it. “You call being stupid okay?”

“The way it echoed all over the hills it will be hard for anything to pinpoint the source.” When Shane turned his glare on Dale the old man shrugged. “Not arguing, just saying.” He turned his own glare onto Glenn, joy. “It wouldn't hurt you to think things through though.”

“It wasn't even my idea.” She grumbled; anything else she might have said was cut off by the arrival of the box van.

“Amy!” Andrea was the first one out of the back and Amy ran straight into her arms.

“Andrea!” They hugged fiercely and Glenn couldn't help but smile sadly and wonder what had happened to her own sisters. “You scared the hell out of me.” They walked back to the group who'd stayed at camp, wrapped up in each other, Amy was clearly not letting go of her sister any time soon.

Jacqui came next, walking tall and content to be back, Morales just behind her and his kids ran for him. His daughter jumped into his arms while his son clung to his legs and his wife enveloped him in a hug. T-Dog got out next...and Glenn had a horrible feeling...because Merle probably would have been the first one to get out if he was with them at all. Shit. Daryl was gonna be heartbroken.

“How'd ya'll get out?” Shane asked. “We heard from T-Dog on the radio that you were trapped.”

“New guy got us out.” Glenn whispered. “Though it looks like they forgot Merle.”

“T-Dog dropped the key.” Andrea told her. “Down a drain, it was an accident Glenn.”

Glenn wasn't able to comment on that...because Rick got out of the van then looking at the ground like some sad lost puppy. She still had no idea what he'd been through before that crazed ride through Atlanta, all she knew was that he was one hell of a shot. Then Rick looked up and froze like he'd seen a ghost. Glenn looked around at their people, Shane looked back just as frozen, and like he might start crying. Then Carl, the kid that Shane was taking care of, started running toward Rick.

“Dad!”

Rick was already crying when he caught Carl in his arms, going down on the ground and holding him tight. Holy shit. Rick was Rick Grimes...Carl's dad...and Shane's best friend. The man both Shane and Carl had thought was dead, lost to them forever. Rick staggered to his feet, Carl up in his arms, neither letting go of the other, both crying sobbing messes and Glenn didn't have the heart to bring up Merle. Not yet. They needed this. Daryl would understand her waiting to speak up about his brother.

The surprises just kept on coming, because Rick went right up to Shane, who met him halfway, and Rick pulled Shane into his arms and held the other man close. When their lips met briefly Glenn got it. They were a whole lot more than best friends, and they clung to one another, foreheads pressed together, Carl tight in their embrace. Yeah. Glenn could wait to talk to Rick about Merle later.

She handed Andrea's gun back to her, grabbed her personal pack and her 9-iron and left the three of them to their tearful reunion. Glenn needed a nap in the worst way.

xxx

Luckily Rick's story didn't come out until they were gathered around the main fire later that night after the obvious family had time to re-bond and everyone else had eaten. Rick had been shot in the line of duty and had ended up in a coma; he was still new to the whole apocalypse thing. It was no wonder he rode into the city like an idiot, he had no idea how truly bad things were now. Glenn couldn't imagine what the guy must have felt...to wake up to a world that had already ended. It was too horrifying to think about and Glenn lived in this new world.

Rick and Shane were huddled together, Shane's arm around Rick's shoulders, holding him close with Carl in Rick's lap. Carl looked so lost, even with his dad back. “Shane said you died, like Mom.”

“He had every reason to believe that, don't you ever think any different.”

Shane looked so guilty though and seemed to need to explain why he'd told Carl that Rick was dead. “The doctors told us you and the other patients were going to be transferred to Atlanta...but then it never happened. The military took over the hospital and the dead overtook them; then the soldiers just started shooting everyone, it didn’t matter if they were infected or not.” Shane swallowed his grief. “I tried to get you out of there man. No one would help me, and you still were hooked up to all those machines. I didn't know what to do. Then there was an explosion and the power cut out. I couldn't hear your heart; I couldn't hear you breathing...maybe it was the gunshots in the hallway or the screaming. But I swear babe, if I'd known you were still alive I'd of carried you out.”

“Shane, it’s okay. You got Carl here, he's safe...but I gotta ask. How did Lori die?”

“I went straight to our house from the hospital to pack some things then I went to Lori's...she'd been bitten and came after me. I had to...” Shane nearly choked on the words. “After, I put her in the trunk of her car...Carl was hiding in the attic.”

“Mom told me to.” The little boy murmured. “Before she got sick. She told me to go up there and hide and not to come out until Shane got there.”

“Your mom was absolutely right.” Rick's hand found Shane's and they held tight to one another.

“Has anyone given any thought to what we're gonna tell Daryl Dixon?” Dale asked. “He won't be happy to hear Merle got left behind.”

“No shit.” Glenn muttered. “I wasn't happy to hear about it, and I don't even like Merle.”

Rick and T-Dog argued a bit about who was guiltier over the whole situation. Rick had cuffed Merle, but T-Dog had dropped the key. Glenn didn't bother bringing up her own part in it, when she'd hit the man because he'd been high and putting them in even more danger. At least she'd left him a means of picking the damn lock on the cuffs. Not that it mattered; the Walkers probably had eaten him before he'd gotten them off.

“We were all scared.” Andrea told T-Dog. “We all ran, what's your point?”

“I stopped long enough to chain that door. The staircase is pretty narrow, maybe half a dozen geeks can push up to it at once, not enough to break through. Not that chain, not that lock. Dixon is still alive up there, handcuffed to that pipe. That's on us.” He got up and left the fire, holding his ribs and limping off to his tent.

Glenn stared after him. Holy shit. Maybe Merle had time to pick that lock after all.

 

Even after the brief nap she'd taken once they'd gotten back she was still exhausted and after she had wiped the worst of the dirt from her body with a damp rag and bowl of water in her tent she slipped into shorts and a t-shirt and crashed. She fell asleep to the sounds coming from Shane and Rick's tent. Oh yeah, they were a couple. The sounds made her think of Daryl and she wondered if he'd even speak to her once he found out what had happened, much less join her in her tent again.

xxx

Glenn didn't know much about cars, she knew how to check and add oil and where the brake fluid went...but that was about it. Still, she hated the way Jim and Dale had stripped it of almost everything but the paint job. Rick joined her for a moment and suggested that maybe they'd get to steal another one someday. A girl could hope.

Then Shane drove his jeep up with water from the lake, jugs and jugs of it. He parked the jeep and Rick started toward him. “Water's here ya'll. Remember to boil before use.” Rick got in a good morning kiss from his partner with capital P and the two started talking...and the tone didn't exactly sound happy. Was the honeymoon already over?

Then screams filled the air, the kids' screams, more specifically Carl and Sophia's screams. “Dad! Shane!” “Mommy!” Funny how Sophia didn't even bother yelling for her dad. The commotion spurred all the adults into action though, Rick and Shane at the head of the pack, Shane with his rifle, and Rick with a metal post someone had tossed him. Glenn wasn't far behind with her 9-iron...it was the one time either man outran her.

Carl ended up in Jaqui's arms while Sophia ran on to her mother and the men and Glenn saw just what made the kids scream. There was a deer, a doe, lying in a small clearing just at the edge of camp out past the line of cans she and Jim had set up. What the hell had they been doing out here this far alone, Jesus. The doe was dead, familiar arrows sticking out of it, and a Walker was on its knees beside it, eating it.

Daryl was gonna be pissed when he caught up to the Walker who ruined his kill.

Shane checked the perimeter of the small clearing to make sure the Walker was alone, Rick right beside him, Glenn next, Morales, Dale and Jim bringing up the rear. It must have caught their scent then because it left its fresh meal laying and rose to face them with a hungry snarl.

Rick whacked it in the head with his post, then Shane got it with the butt of his rifle, Glenn followed with her 9-iron. Suddenly it was a melee of weapons coming down on the downed corpse, until Dale cut off its head with an ax. They would still need to bash the head in, but the worst of the threat was over.

Everyone was in shock over the Walker's sudden appearance...Dale spoke out their worry first. “That's the first we've had up here...we've never had them up here before.”

“Bound to happen,” Jim said. “They're runnin' out of food in the city.”

Footsteps in the woods made them all tense and grip their weapons, expect for Glenn. She knew those footsteps, and she knew that it was only a matter of time before Daryl tracked the deer back to camp. He stepped out of the bushes as if conjured by her thoughts of him, sweaty, dirty, and Glenn still wanted to drag him back to her tent just as he was.

Daryl gave them all a scornful look, until he saw the deer and the decapitated corpse beside it. “Son of bitch. That's my deer! Look at it!” His voice was almost mournful for a moment at the loss of fresh meat that would have fed their entire camp without having to make it into a stew. “All gnawed up and ruined by this rotten sack o' shit.” He kicked the body a couple of times and Glenn couldn't blame him, they'd all been looking forward to something besides squirrel.

“That won't help anything Daryl.”

Daryl whirled on Dale, blue eyes blazing. “What the hell would you know old man? Sittin' up here on your ass.” He stomped back to the deer to retrieve his arrows. “Been trackin' this deer for miles, was gonna bring it back and cook us up some venison.” He looked up at them. “Think we'd be okay if we cut around the chewed up parts?”

Shane shook his head and Glenn had to agree when he said; “I would not risk that.”

Daryl huffed and nodded his own agreement as if it had been a long shot. “Damn shame...got more squirrel though, guess its hunter stew again if ya'll got something to go with 'em.” The Walker head chose that moment to come too and start chomping its teeth. Glenn whacked it with her 9-iron and put it down, Daryl nodded at her in approval before leaving them all behind.

“Daryl.” She called after him. “We need to talk.”

“Later, need to get these squirrels skinned.” He kept walking and called out for his brother. “Merle get your ugly ass out here, got some squirrels to clean!”

She sighed while Shane and Rick walked past her. Fine, let them piss Daryl off, she hadn't been looking forward to this part anyway. Shane, who'd been their leader for some time, took point in the shit storm about to take place. “Daryl, hold up a second. We gotta talk.”

Daryl stopped not far from the RV and turned to look at Shane, a frown on his face. “About what?”

“Merle.”

The frown deepened and he looked to Glenn, she cut her eyes away, unable to meet those angry blues. “He dead?” Daryl asked Shane instead since she was silent.

“We don't know.” Shane told him honestly.

“It’s not guessin' game. Either the Walkers got him or they didn't.”

“It’s not that simple.” Rick spoke up.

“Who the hell are you?”

“Rick Grimes.”

Daryl sneered. “Well Rick Grimes, there somethin' you wanna tell me?”

“Your brother was a danger to us all, to himself, and I handcuffed him to a pipe on a roof. He's still up there.”

Glenn could almost see the rage bubble under the surface as Daryl started to fidget. “Let me process this. You handcuffed my brother to roof and left him there to die!”

“Not to die, but we left him there.” Daryl launched himself at Rick, but Shane got a hold of him and had him in choke hold. Glenn stopped herself from clocking Shane with her 9-iron, but just barely. Rick saw that and nodded at her before kneeling in front of Daryl. “Think you can manage a calm discussion?”

Daryl met Glenn's eyes, and saw she was ready to take on both Shane and Rick with her 9-iron. “Yeah.” Shane let him go and Daryl got to his feet. “So let’s discuss.”

“I didn't do what I did on a whim. Merle is not the most agreeable human being, and he made a bad situation worse.”

“It’s not Rick's fault.” T-Dog added. “I dropped the key, and I woulda picked it up, but it fell down a drain.”

“How is that supposed to make me feel better?” Daryl asked.

“It won't I guess, but this should. I chained the roof door shut and locked it with a padlock. The geeks can't get to him.”

“That's gotta count for something.” Rick added.

“Not enough.” Daryl told them. “Hell with ya'll, all of ya!” His eyes focused on Glenn for a moment. “Just tell me where he is so I can go get him.”

“Not alone, I'm already going back.” Rick told him. That spurred a heated conversation between Shane and Rick on the way back to their tent. Glenn followed Daryl back to his.

He sat by his fire pit and started skinning the squirrels. “You in on it?” He asked not sparing her a glance.

“I was the diversion, in a stolen car with an alarm blaring. I didn't know Merle had been left behind until we got back to camp.”

“What'd he do to make the cop cuff him?”

“He was high Daryl, we already had Walkers breaking through the front doors and he was shooting at them from the roof egging them on.” She sat across from him on another log. “I snapped and hit him with my 9-iron...got the gun away from him and Rick cuffed him.”

Some of the anger went out of Daryl, he knew his brother better than anyone, and knew what the man was like when he was using. “That it?”

“Before I headed out with Rick to start our escape plan...I gave Merle a bobby pin so he could pick the lock. If I can do it, so can he.”

His eyes held no more anger at her when he looked at her. “Help me get these cleaned; we'll put them the old man's RV until someone else can get them stewed.” He was accepting her apology, such as it was, and that was enough for her.

 

After some more arguing between the officer lovebirds Rick seemed to win the argument, mostly because he used the bag of guns and ammo he'd dropped in Atlanta as a bonus. Also...there was a radio in that bag that was his only way to communicate with a man who had saved him...helped him acclimate to the world post-apocalypse. He owed a debt to that man and his son and didn't want them walking into Atlanta the way he had, so a group of four was chosen, or rather volunteered, to go back to the city and get Merle and the guns. The team ended up being Rick, Daryl, Glenn and T-Dog.

xxx

With a little negotiating for Dale's bolt cutters and the four bullets Shane had for Rick's gun...they were ready to go. Though Shane still seemed reluctant to let his lover out of his sight and insisted on a very long public kiss for luck. Glenn might have felt better if Shane and his rifle were going with them...but he needed to stay with Carl. Kid had already lost his mom...he didn't need both of his dads going on a crazy rescue mission.

 

The drive to the city was uneventful and Glenn, who had somehow ended up driving the van, parked at the edge of the city on some train tracks. “We walk from here. Don't want the sound of an engine to bring the geeks down on us. Had enough of that yesterday.” No one argued with her, which was awesome, and they piled out of the van and headed into the city.

“Merle first or guns?” Rick asked as they squeezed through a break in some chain-link fencing.

“We ain't even havin' this conversation. We're gettin' my brother first!” Daryl snarled at him.

Rick took that in stride and looked to Glenn. “Your call.”

Obviously Rick didn't know Glenn that well, even if the guns would have been easier to get to, she'd pick Merle. For Daryl's sake. “Merle, going for the guns from here would mean doubling back.” Every now and then she could lie with the best of them; this was one of those times. The only one she wasn't fooling was Daryl.

He caught her eyes as they ran through the city and smirked at her, she shot a grin back at him. Nothing was said between them, that look was enough and let her know they were truly okay.

 

Glenn used every safe shortcut she knew to get them to the department store in record time. There was one Walker in the storefront and Daryl took it out quietly with his crossbow, a crude comment falling from his lips. She ignored it, knowing he just needed to fill the silence a little at this point, nervous about what they would, or wouldn't find on the roof.

They reached the back stairs and rushed up them, Rick in the lead as he had the gun, Glenn right behind him, Daryl on her heels and T-Dog bringing up the rear. Poor guy was still sore from the beating he'd gotten the day before. At the top of the stairs they found the door chained and locked just like T-Dog had left it, the best news they'd had all morning, Rick nodded at the man and he cut the lock.

The chain was pulled loose and Daryl kicked the door open making sure he was the first person through it. “Merle!” No one cautioned the man not to yell, and let him scream for his brother. As they came around the pipes, Daryl made another sound, a wordless cry of disappointment. Merle was nowhere in sight, the handcuffs hung there empty, and Glenn saw the bobby pin on the roof beneath them, the words 'thanks Chink' scratched in the gravel.

“What the hell?” T-Dog yelled. “How'd he get loose?”

Rick looked at Glenn, brow raised. “Somethin' we should know?”

“I had a bad feeling...and before we left I gave Merle a bobby pin to pick the lock. I told Daryl this morning.”

“And you couldn't have told the rest of us?” T-Dog asked. “Saved us some guilt? And why would you do that for Merle Dixon? He hates you as much as he hates me.”

Glenn raised her own brow at him. “You wouldn't understand; you don't speak my language. Besides, I didn't know for sure that Merle would be able to pick the lock...I just assumed he could.”

“What made you think of the bobby pin?” Rick asked her.

She shrugged. “I use them to pick locks, picking locks means doors can still be shut and secured behind you when the Geeks are after you.”

T-Dog was looking at her as if seeing her for the first time. “You don't look like the delinquent type, where'd you learn to pick 'em?”

“Self taught...had to get my own supplies at the refugee center.” At their looks of confusion she clarified for Rick and Dog. “The soldiers were assholes and traded basic necessities for sexual favors. So I picked the locks on the supply rooms and got what I needed.”

“Damn.”

“Now if we're done with our little Glenn history lesson can we please figure out what we're going to do next?”

“We're lookin' for Merle, that's what we're gonna do.” Daryl told her.

“I get that you want to find him.” Rick said calmly. “A man would do anything to find his family, I get that, I did that, but we got to be smart about this. We don't know how long he's been gone, how far he's gotten. We can circle around a block at a time and look for him, all of us.”

“Okay.”

T-Dog had stopped to gather up Dale's tools that been left behind with Merle. “I'm for that, but I'm not walkin' down the streets of Atlanta with just my good intentions and Dale's bolt cutters. We need those guns.”

“Then we need a plan.” Rick told them.

 

Which is how they ended up in an old office with a map of the surrounding area quickly scribbled on the tile floor, and none of them were happy with the plan Glenn came up with. Rick because he thought it was too risky for her to go after the guns alone, T-Dog because he didn't want to lose anyone else...and Daryl because...well the way he was looking at her spoke volumes. He'd lost his brother, he didn't want to lose her too, and if they had time she'd look at the feelings they were having more closely.

“It’s a bad idea.”

“Cop's right, I don't want you goin' out there alone.” Glenn raised a brow at Daryl, wondering how close they were to revealing their relationship to the others...and if hiding her gender was something she even needed to keep up.

“Stop freaking out and listen to what I'm saying, it’s a good idea. A group is slow and looks like a freaking buffet but if I'm alone I'll be able to move without you guys holding me back.” She laid out the plan using bits and pieces of office supplies to show where the guns were five blocks away and where she needed them to be for her plan to work. “Daryl and I will go to the alley where you and I first met.”

“Why me?” Daryl asked her, like he was expecting a special reason.

“Your crossbow will draw less attention.” Luckily he didn't look upset about her practicality, instead he looked impressed. “Daryl will wait for me there while I grab the bag.”

“You have me and T-Dog somewhere else?”

“You'll be two blocks away in another direction; just in case I get cut off and can't get back to Daryl, that way my ass is covered either way I run.”

“What did you do before the apocalypse?” T-Dog asked.

Daryl snorted in amusement. “Kid delivered pizzas.”

She grinned. “The best way to earn tips is to cut your delivery time as much as possible, which means knowing every shortcut.” The looks on Rick and T-Dog's faces were priceless and she and Daryl shared another grin.

“You sure that crossbow is the only reason you want Daryl coverin' your ass?” T-Dog asked.

Glenn couldn't help it; she batted her lashes at the man. “Wouldn't you like to know.” He made a face at her flirting and Daryl snickered.

 

They climbed down the ladder and made their way into the alley where she'd first met Rick. Glenn was ahead since she knew the territory; Daryl followed her with a trust that made her heart skip. When exactly had she gotten so hung up on the man?

“You got balls for a woman.” His voice was teasing as they got to the gate.

“You mean for a person, or else you're gonna get real cozy with my 9-iron.” She chanced a glance back at him, he was smirking.

“Whatever.”

Glenn rolled her eyes and stripped off her button shirt, she didn't need some random Walker grabbing her by it and dragging her down. She kept the 9-iron in her belt-loop; it wasn't leaving her side for anything. She was about to dash out of the alley when a familiar calloused hand reached for her cheek, she met Daryl's eyes. “What?”

“Be careful.”

She nodded and pulled away, ducking low as she made her way down the sidewalk. Almost right away she gained the attention of one Walker and it got out of the car it was in. Glenn ignored it and made it all the way to the bag of guns without getting swarmed, she picked it up; glad she didn't stagger under the weight of them. She was almost home free, she just had to get back, but she hesitated when she saw Rick's hat. Fuck it. She dashed ahead and grabbed the hat too and ran back to Daryl for all she was worth.

Glenn heard yelling coming from Daryl's location, but she didn't stop, he was closer than the others and she had Walkers on her tail. She hadn't expected to see Daryl on the ground being beaten by men she didn't know and she couldn't help it, she froze. Then they saw her, saw the bag of guns in her grasp and they came at her. It was one of those moments where she wouldn't be proud of herself later...but never again would strange men just jump her and carry her off.

They were on her, and she dropped the guns, 9-iron in her hands as she swung at them. She hit one, but the other had a bat and knocked her club from her grasp, the one she'd hit came at her, knocked her down and kicked her side. Glenn couldn't do much more than guard her soft spots and avoid the bat as it came down toward her.

The first one started to pick up the guns where she'd dropped them as she rolled to avoid that metal bat, but then he screamed, an arrow sticking out of his ass. Thank god, if Daryl could still shoot then he was okay. They dragged her up off the ground though and carried her past the fence toward a car that drove up in the street.

Glenn started fighting; thrashing, kicking, and screaming Daryl's name over and over again right up until one of them, she didn't know which one backhanded her hard enough to make her see stars. Then she was shoved in the back of that car, Walkers all around them and they piled in after her and took off.

“Crazy bastard.” The one that had hit her came at her again and she tried to crawl away, screaming, crying now as she tried to keep his hands off her. “Shut the fuck up!” His hands were on her and she was in absolute panic, flashing back to the close call she'd had before.

“Make him shut up, the dead will be on us if he's not quiet.” The voice came from the front of the car.

“I'm trying...hey...he's got something strapped under his shirt.”

“A weapon?”

“I'll find out.”

Glenn screamed again as those strange hands clutched at her chest and he hit her across the face again, it dazed her enough that she couldn't move as much, but the tears wouldn't stop.

“Well?” The voice up front asked.

“Shit.”

“What?”

“I know why the kid was panicking.” The man who'd hit her sounded remorseful, ashamed.”

“What? Why?”

“It’s a woman.”

There was silence after that and Glenn managed to pull her shirt down, covering her unwrapped breasts and curled herself into the floor of the backseat and stayed that way until they got to their destination.

xxx

Daryl screamed and cursed, not being able to go after them, after Glenn when she started screaming, and after they'd made her stop. He had to close the gate, or get killed, and then grabbed the kid who'd brought all this shit down on them. Bastard wasn't leaving his sight until he got Glenn back...she'd sounded so scared and he wanted blood.

“What the hell happened?” Rick asked as he and T-Dog caught up with them.

“This little shit and his friends happened. Came out of nowhere and started yellin', tried ta shut him up so the geeks wouldn't come down on us and his homies jumped me. Then they went after Glenn...I shot one of 'em so they didn't get the guns...but they drove off with Glenn.”

“We gotta go! We can sort it out later!” T-Dog yelled, pointing at the geeks collecting at the gate before he dragged the twerp back the way they'd come.

Rick grabbed the guns and his damn hat, and Daryl snagged Glenn's shirt from the ground...picking up her 9-iron too. She'd never forgive him if he left that behind, then they were running for safety so they could regroup...and hopefully he'd get to make the brat bleed.

xxx

The car slowed down and pulled into a building, a garage maybe, Glenn wasn't paying attention. Hell she wasn't moving from the back floor where she was still curled up. She was staying in this car, the only way they were gonna move her was if they knocked her out and dragged her out.

Voices echoed from the building around her, some in Spanish, and some in English. The men who'd carted her off were in a panic themselves now. Good, assholes.

“G, man we screwed up.”

“What happened?” A new voice, G possibly, asked.

“Someone was there for the guns, guy with a crossbow and the kid in the backseat. We didn't know G, we swear. If we'd known, we wouldn't have done it.”

“Done what?”

“Grabbed the kid...it’s a woman G. She's cowering in the floor now and won't move. We hit her pretty hard. She's terrified.”

“How could you not know she was a woman?”

“Her hair is cut like a man's...didn't know until...she had her chest strapped down, man. Didn't know till we took off the bindings...”

“Shit.”

“Yeah.”

“The guy with her was really pissed.” Another said, the one who'd actually hit her. “Fought like hell to try and keep her, shot Felipe in the ass with an arrow.”

The back door across from her opened and man with a cautious face and kind eyes looked at her. “You okay?”

Glenn glared, finding some of the bravado and courage she'd misplaced. “Do I look okay asshole? I think I have a concussion, and your men groped my breasts. I'm not having a good day.”

“They didn't know you were a woman...if they'd known-”

“The last group of strange men who grabbed me knew I was a woman and I barely got away from them. They were too busy getting eaten by their last rape victim to rape me. So I cut my hair and strapped down my breasts. I won't apologize for surviving, or for my boyfriend shooting Felipe in the ass. I'm really glad about that by the way...and that I hit him with my 9-iron before I went down.”

G smiled at her a little. “We have women here; they can take a look you and make sure you're okay.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Bring one here to walk with me, or else you might as well knock me out, I'm not leaving this car any other way.”

He nodded, and sent for another woman, she was middle aged and glared every man there into submission and they looked away, ashamed of themselves. That was enough for Glenn, and when the woman beckoned her forward with gentle eyes Glen crawled out of the car and into her arms. The other woman held her close and Glenn broke down, crying and clinging as the matronly woman rocked her and ran her fingers through Glenn's hair. She hadn't been hugged like that since the last time she'd seen her mom...it made her cry harder.

xxx

“I ain't tellin' you nothin'.”

Their prisoner was just a kid, younger than Glenn even and Daryl didn't care, he still wanted blood. T-Dog was making sure to stay between Daryl and the kid as he'd already lunged for the little shit a couple of times.

“What the hell happened back there?”

He snarled at T-Dog. “Like I told you, kid showed up yellin', I tried to shut him up so he wouldn't get us all killed, and his friends jumped me and beat me down. Then they grabbed Glenn.”

“Serves your friend right for hittin' Felipe with that golf club.”

Daryl lunged for him again and Rick barely held him back. “Daryl, back off.”

“No! You got no idea what's goin' on. We gotta get Glenn back.”

“I know, and we will.”

“You don't know!” Daryl screamed. “You don't know how hard she fought them, how scared she sounded.” His allies and their prisoner all froze in confusion and a little horror as they stared at him.

“Her?” The kid asked, looking sick.

“What the hell you talkin' 'bout?” T-Dog asked; voice shrill.

“Glenn's a woman ya dumbasses.”

“Are you serious?” T-Dog didn't seem to know what to do with that information.

“And the two of you-” Rick trailed off.

“Yeah, for a while now.”

“Man I thought you two were just gay. Why would she dress and act like a guy?” T-Dog asked.

“It was safer. She was on her own before the camp...had a close call when she got grabbed by some men, you heard her talk about the soldiers at the refugee center. She got smart and cut her hair, men are less likely to get raped than women. Her words.”

T-Dog rubbed a hand over his face. “Man, if we'd known we wouldn't have let her come into the city all those times by herself.”

“She knew that, she knew you'd all treat her differently if you knew she was a woman. She's plenty capable, and her supply runs never went bad until she took a group of you with her.”

“Only ‘cause your asshole brother was gonna come too, we didn't trust his racist ass alone with a scrawny Asian kid.”

“Shows what you know, Merle knew she was a woman. Knew why she was hidin' it, and after she clocked him with her 9-iron he never laid a hand on her. Respected her fer it.”

“Your brother is fucked up.”

Daryl shrugged; no point in denying it. “We just gotta get her back.”

“G and the others would never hurt a woman...if they know she'll be fine.”

“They practically knocked her out and stuffed her in car... that don't help things.”

Rick sighed and eyed the kid. “Lead us there, and we'll settle this as peacefully as possible.”

xxx

Glenn still wasn't looking any of the men in the eye and shifted away from them whenever one came near her. Even Guillermo, their leader, who had apologized for his men and gotten Mariana to walk her to their real headquarters. The older woman had checked her over in a private room, and didn't leave her side when Felipe joined them to give her a true check up...because the big guy was a freaking nurse of all things.

He apologized again, and left so Mariana could help Glenn back into her binding, her arms a little bruised and sore, but not broken from the bat. Mariana offered to get her something more feminine but Glenn refused...her bras were hidden in the bottom of a duffel back at camp and she wouldn't wear some thin trendy woman's shirt without one.

Their headquarters turned out to be a nursing home where they took care of the elderly who'd been left behind by the staff. Only Guillermo and Felipe had stayed behind, the kids and grandkids of the residents joining them later to protect their family members and the supplies. It’s why they needed the guns.

“Rick is the one who dropped them...he's wearing the sheriff's uniform that matches the bag. The idiot had no idea the city was so bad when he got here yesterday.”

“How could he not know?” Guillermo asked.

“He'd been in a coma, woke up a few days ago to the world as it is now.”

“Shit.”

“Dumbass rode a horse into the city, he's only alive because the horse got eaten...that's when he dropped the guns and hid in the tank.”

“How did he get away?”

“I was on the rooftops, told him where to go and got his ass out.”

“You know the city well?” He asked her.

She finally was able to meet his eyes and nodded. “I can draw you a map of the outskirts so you'll know which places have been picked clean. Save you some time and trouble.”

“We still need those guns.”

Glenn shook her head. “There's a few liquor stores and pawn shops that still have guns and ammo hidden away. I can tell you where they are...I was always focused on food and medicine. I didn't bring back ammo or anything very often.” She had a thought. “Rick's a good man, be straight with him, don't pull any bullshit and he may give you a couple which will help you out.”

“They're here G. They got Miguel gagged and tied up.”

Guillermo gave her a look. “Thought you said he was a good man.”

“Good, not stupid. He doesn't know what he's walking into, and by now Daryl will have told them everything. So they're showing they mean business and want me back unharmed, or there will be consequences.”

He nodded. “Stay here, I'll bring them to you.” Guillermo was as good as his word because when he came back Rick, Daryl and T-Dog were with him and no one’s weapons were raised.

She offered a weak smile to Daryl and he strode forward, sitting in the chair beside her, calloused hand cupping her face. He must not have liked what he saw because he snarled, and tried to turn on the men, her 9-iron his grasp.

“Daryl, no. They didn't know, there was no way for them to know, and you've already shot Felipe in the ass and I hit him. No more blood.” She held fast to his arm. “I'm too tired to deal with anymore macho bullshit.”

He quieted and leaned into her, their foreheads pressing gently together. “Scared the hell outta me.”

“Me too.” She admitted softly. Daryl pulled away and offered her the button up shirt she had left behind and she gladly slipped it on over t-shirt. Then he gave her back her 9-iron and she slipped the handle through her belt loop. “Thank you; I would have really missed this.”

“I know.” He pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. “So why the hell can't we just leave?”

“I promised to draw them a map, and Rick is probably gonna give them a few guns.”

“Hell.” He muttered.

“It could have been worse Daryl...I've been through worse.”

He didn't have anything to say to that.

 

They parted from Guillermo's group with a few less guns and ammo and made their way back to the train tracks where they left the van. Only the van wasn't there, Glenn really should have kept the keys. The only conclusion they came too was that Merle had found their van, and as Daryl put it he'd be bringing some vengeance back to camp. So they started walking as fast as they could guns in hand, though Daryl had handed Glenn his crossbow to carry.

They had barely cleared the city limits when a big clunker of a white jeep came into view and slowed down to stop in their path. Rick grinned, as if happy to see it. “Morgan!”

A black man, older than T-Dog, leaned out the driver’s side. “Rick Grimes...never thought I'd see you again. Need a lift?”

“We do, back to our camp.”

The man, Morgan, frowned. “What about the refugee center?”

“The city is overrun with the dead, there's no place left to go...and according to Glenn here,” He gestured to Glenn. “The center was never safe to begin with, not for women and children.”

“Hop in.” He looked to his passenger, a small boy. “Get in the back Duane, none of them will fit back there.”

“Okay Daddy.” Duane climbed over the seats and got in the very back, Rick took his place in the front and the rest of them piled in the back seat. Glenn ended up wedged between Daryl and T-Dog and leaned her head on Daryl's shoulder, exhausted.

“Where to?” Morgan asked.

“There's an old rock quarry, we've got a pretty large group. I'll show you the turn off.”

Morgan turned the jeep around and headed away from the city, lucky him; he'd never have to see how bad it was there. “You find them?” Morgan asked Rick as they drove. “Your Partner and son? Your ex-wife?”

“Lori didn't make it...but I found Shane and Carl.”

“I'm happy for ya Rick.”

“And I'm happy to see you and Duane. I didn't want the two of you to go through what I did. I almost died in Atlanta, if it weren't for Glenn, I would have. Thanks for the lift.”

“No problem, it was an easy call, you've got numbers and guns and that means safety in this new world.”

Glenn agreed with that, though she didn't say anything aloud, too tired and too content leaning against Daryl to say anything, glad they didn't have to walk all the way back to the quarry. In fact Morgan and Duane showing up was the only thing that saved Amy.

 

They drove into camp to be greeted by Dale and Shane, rifles at the ready until Rick stepped out all smiles and their guns lowered. Shane started to make his way to Rick, Glenn and the others already piling out of the back when Glenn saw the Walker. Amy was just coming out of the RV, Glenn still had Daryl's crossbow in her hands. She didn't think just aimed for the head and pulled the trigger on the bow, glad Daryl had given her lessons. The arrow flew true and sank into the corpse's head making it fall to the ground Amy jumped back with a scream going back inside the RV; at least she was safer in there.

Then the Walkers were everywhere. Glenn lost track of where the others went as she ran for the campfires, crossbow on her back now as she didn't have the arm strength to load it quickly. Instead she had her 9-iron in her hands and started swinging, keeping the geeks off of Carol and Sophia.

It was pure chaos with everyone trying to get to the safety of the RV, the air filled with screams and the sound of gunshots. Carol kept Sophia and Carl close and Glenn kept the dead off of them as the others cleared out the dead with their new guns. 

When it was over...half their people were dead. Glenn hadn't known all of them, not by name, but they'd been decent, kind. She mourned them, tears going down her face, and she let Daryl pull her into his arms so she wouldn't have to look at the carnage right then. There would be plenty of time for that when they buried their dead.

xxx

The only member of their camp that wasn't mourned, not really, was Ed Peletier. He'd been found in the family's tent, most of him eaten up...what was left of his face was one big bruise. Apparently he'd tried beating Carol in public in front of the kids and Shane had stepped up. Glenn wasn't sorry about that...she'd seen the way Ed had looked at Sophia. No man should look at their daughter with lust.

They spent the rest of that night and most of the next day burning the Walkers, and making sure their own dead wouldn't come back before or after they buried them. Morgan helped, though he hadn't known any of them, and it made Glenn like the man just a little more than she already did. He'd gotten them back in time to save a few lives, and that meant quite a bit, especially to Andrea who'd hugged the man in gratitude, Amy too.

It didn't save Jim though, who had been bitten in the attack and was now resting in the back of the RV while they waited for him to die and decided on their next course of action. Their camp wasn't safe anymore; they'd been kidding themselves thinking it ever had been. Jim had been right; the Walkers were on the move because they were running out of food in the city.

So Rick, Shane and Morgan discussed where they should go but Glenn didn't care...Glenn, filthy as could be, went back to her tent with a bucket of water and a wash cloth. She wanted to get the dirt, the grime and smoke off her skin. When Daryl followed her she didn't object, not even when he helped her undress and wipe down. It felt good to be taken care of, and being able to touch her seemed to reassure him as much as it did her. 

She dressed again, not bothering to bind her chest and crawled into her sleeping bag, then just watched him wipe himself down. He got the worst of the grime off and found a clean shirt and boxers that he'd left in her tent and crawled into the bag with her. She was glad the day was already cooling off for the night; otherwise it would be too hot for this.

“Hell of a couple of days.” He muttered; arms around her, face tucked into the side of her neck.

“Yeah.”

“You gonna go with 'em when they leave?” Daryl asked.

“I don't know...I don't want to be on my own again. I like this group.”

“Would you come with me if I left?”

She didn't even have to think about it. “Yes.”

He didn't seem to know what to do with that for a long moment, and then he kissed her cheek. “Got nowhere ta go. Might as well stay with this crew.”

Glenn smiled at that and fell asleep.

 

“Andrea, Amy, what's wrong?” Shane asked. The sisters had disappeared in the direction of Glenn's tent, wanting to thank him for saving Amy the night before. How he just happened to have Daryl's crossbow in his hands wasn't something Shane wanted to think about. When they remained silent he frowned at them taking note that they looked shocked, Amy was blushing. “Glenn okay?”

“Oh he's just fine, all snuggled up with Daryl.” Andrea told him point blank. “I thought the others were imagining it when they said the two of them had something going on. Daryl's not his brother and I can see him not really caring about race...but the gay thing? I don't see that...”

“Guess you're wrong...because that was romantic cuddling.” Amy was still blushing, but she was grinning too.

“Aw hell, it’s not what you two are thinkin'.” T-Dog told them, and then nearly bit his tongue eying Rick. “Crap, did we ever get permission to tell about that part?”

Rick shook his head. “No, but they won't be able to hide it for much longer, and Glenn knows we're safe.”

“What the hell are you two talkin' about?” Shane asked. “What went down in Atlanta?”

Rick's eyes met his in complete seriousness. “Daryl and Glenn aren't gay, Glenn is a woman.”

Amy's jaw dropped. “No fucking way.”

Her sister shook her a bit. “Amy!”

“What? Glenn is totally a guy!”

“No, she's a woman.” Rick sighed. “It’s not my story to tell, but she had some close calls before she got to this camp and she decided it was safer to pretend to be a man. Less chance of getting assaulted.”

“You mean raped.” Andrea clarified.

“Yeah. She got grabbed yesterday in the city and Daryl nearly lost it.”

“So he knows?” Shane asked.

“He's known for a while and helped her keep her secret, stood watch while she bathed down at the lake.” T-Dog snorted. “They're disgustingly cute.”

“Well they're down for the count anyway; fast asleep in her tent all snuggled up in her sleeping bag.”

“Are we going to tell them what we decided?” Morgan asked and all of them looked to Rick, including Shane.

“They had a hard day yesterday, before we even got back to camp. Let them sleep, I have a feeling they'll decide to come along with us to the CDC.”

xxx

Glenn woke alone in her sleeping bag, but not alone in her tent; Daryl was still there, sitting by her battery lantern, his crossbow in his lap. She sat up and rubbed at her eyes. “What's up?”

“Talked to some of the others, Grimes wants to go to the CDC, seems like everyone is gonna go with him.”

“When do we leave...or are we going somewhere else?”

He shrugged. “Might as well go along, ain't got any other plans, you?”

Glenn shook her head. “I miss anything else?”

“Everyone knows yer a woman...and they know about us.”

She looked at him and met his eyes. “Is that okay?”

“Its yer secret.”

“I'm okay with this group knowing I'm a woman...are you okay with them knowing about us.”

“No reason ta hide it, is there?” He looked unsure for a second, as if she'd ever be embarrassed of him.

She grinned and shook her head. “So, when do we leave?”

“Sometime today, mid-morning maybe...we'll need to pack up our tents. You wanna ride with me in the truck?”

“Yeah.” She eyed the crossbow. “You done?”

Daryl put it aside with a smile. “Yeah, you wanna start packin'?”

She reached for him and pulled him back to the sleeping bag and on top of her. “Not just yet...hold me a while?”

“Just holdin'?”

Glenn shook her head and rolled them so she was on top. “No, I want a little more than that.”

 

They crawled out of her tent just before the sun started to come over the trees and shine on what was left of their camp. Glenn watched it for a second before turning to look at Daryl. “I don't suppose there's any food.”

“Didn't eat yesterday did ya?”

“I was a little busy.”

“Probably just those bars ya got in yer stash, a lot stuff got trashed during the attack.”

She made a face. “Okay then, I'll eat one and start packing my crap... think you can help me take my tent down?”

“How'd you get it up?”

“Dale helped.”

“Always wondered where you got it.”

“From a Walker.”

Daryl nodded cupped her cheek, bringing their foreheads together. “Eat somethin'. I'l come back ta help ya with yer tent.” He walked away toward his own tent to start packing things up there. Glenn ducked back inside and ate one of her energy bars, she didn't have many left, and then she paused and came to decision. She dug out one of her sports bras from the bottom of her duffel bag and got dressed; she was done strapping down her chest. 

The rest of her clothes went into her bags; her sleeping bag and mat were rolled up and set outside her tent until the structure was empty. She picked up her bags and took them over to Daryl's truck and put them in the bed. Merle's motorcycle was already in the back, along with a few gas cans, Daryl met her there his own bag and sleeping bag in his grasp. He put them beside hers and motioned her back to his tent.

“Ya help me with mine I'll help ya with yers, that way you'll learn.” Glenn couldn't argue with that logic and followed him back to his tent, following his every instruction. They made quick work of it, rolling and folding it up till they got it back in its own bag and in the back of his truck it went. Then they did the same to her tent, all that was left were their weapons that they were going to keep close at hand.

By that time a good number of the camp was awake and packed up, Shane and Rick were telling them what CB channel to be on, and how to get the caravan's attention if they didn't have a radio and needed to stop. The Morales family dropped their little bomb then, they weren't going with them to the CDC. They wanted to try for Birmingham, Alabama where they had family. Glenn got a handshake from Morales, a hug from his wife who held Glenn's face in her hands for a moment with a sad smile, and hugs from both of their children. Daryl was a little shocked when Morales shook his hand as well.

The rest of camp packed up and the caravan headed out. Dale was in the lead with his RV, Andrea riding shotgun with the map in her lap while Jaqui tended to Jim in the back. Rick was behind them in Carol's Cherokee, with Shane, Carol and the kids. Morgan and Duane followed them in their jeep with T-Dog behind them in his van and they brought up the rear in Daryl's truck.

 

They didn't get very far before the RV had to stop with a honk of its horn, the radiator hose had crapped out and left them standing and looking at the engine a bit forlornly.

“Can you jerry-rig it?” Rick asked.

“That's what I've been doing for quite some time now...the darn thing is more tape than hose...and I'm out of duck-tape.”

Shane motioned a ways ahead of them. “There might be somethin' up there, can see a building. If we're lucky it could be a gas station.” He looked at Rick. “I'll check it out; you keep an eye on things.” Rick nodded and T-Dog went with Shane to check out what he'd seen.

Jacqui came out of the RV, urging Rick to check on Jim, poor guy was getting worse and a shake of Daryl's head let Glenn know that he wasn't going to make to the CDC with them. Jim was an okay guy and Glenn had liked him from the start.

When Shane and T-Dog came back, with duck tape for the hose, there was another meeting about what to do with Jim. In the end they honored his wishes and Shane and Rick carried him out of the RV as carefully as they could, though every movement seemed to cause Jim pain no matter how careful they were. They placed him under a tree up on the road bank in the shade and breeze and he smiled at them and refused the gun that Rick offered him.

Jacqui kissed his cheek goodbye and the rest of them offered him sad smiles, though Dale gently clapped him on the shoulder to thank him for fighting for them. Jim managed his own smile for Glenn.

“I'm glad you found people you could trust with your secret.” She nodded at him and started to turn away. “Dixon, you take care of that young lady, ya hear.” Daryl nodded as well and took Glenn's hand as they walked back to the truck, leaving the dying to pass in peace.

 

She was out of energy bars, having given them to the kids and Amy, keeping the last one herself and Daryl. The CDC better have some food because they were gonna be really hungry by the time they got there.

“While there we better stock up on everything.” Daryl told her, as they got ever closer to what everyone hoped would be a safe haven.

She blinked and stared at him where he was chewing on his thumb. “You don't think we'll be able to stay there?”

“I think we should stuff our packs with whatever the hell we can carry.”

That made sense; their good luck had seemed to run out at the quarry, no point in letting their guard completely down at the CDC just because Rick and Morgan thought it would be safe.

 

Daryl seemed right about the place when they pulled up to the large building as close as the road block would let them...there was nothing but bodies and flies as far as the eye could see. It looked like the CDC had fallen with the rest of the city.

They picked their way across the pavement and what had once been fancy landscaping stepping over the truly dead as the sun set and left them in growing darkness. The doors and shutters were locked tight and Walkers were starting to head for them...and panic grew among them.

Rick claimed he saw the camera move and Shane started to pull him away but Rick nearly freaked out and started screaming at the camera and banging at the shutter. Shane finally got him a few feet away...and then the shutter slid open and bathed them in light.

“Holy shit.” Glenn muttered, her crossbow in her hands, up and ready. She knew how to use it and was more comfortable with it; the only gun she knew how to use had been Merle's hand gun. Daryl was right beside her, his own bow at the ready as they filed in after Rick. 

A man was inside waiting for them, his own gun up and aimed. “Anybody infected?”

“One of the group...he didn't make it. The rest of us are clean.” Rick told him.

The man didn't lower his gun. “Why are you here? What do you want?”

“A chance.”

That almost got them a bit of amusement. “That's an awful lot to ask these days.”

“I know.”

“The price of admission is a blood test, all of you.”

“We can do that.” Rick assured him.

He nodded. “You got stuff to bring in you get it now, once this door closes it stays closed.” Guns were lowered and they ran back out to get their things.

Glenn looked at Daryl. “Just the basics?”

He nodded. “And yer empty packs so we can do a little shoppin' before we leave.”

She grabbed the smallest pack that had a change of clothes in it, and a larger pack that was filled with other bags. Her crossbow stayed in the truck while her 9-iron came with her. Daryl kept his crossbow with him, though he frowned at her for leaving hers. Glenn rolled her eyes as they ran back to the building. “I have my slingshot!”

That got her a snort but no actual words as the group made it safely back inside.

 

All of them crowded into an elevator and headed down while Rick made a few introductions and their host, Doctor Edwin Jenner, told someone named Vi to shut down and secure the main entrance. Then he led them down a corridor and to a big room, where he introduced them to Vi, the computer than ran most of the building. He was the only staff member left, and proof that the CDC had been a pipe dream.

Rick and Morgan looked devastated, but there was no time to mourn their lost hope because Jenner was serious about those blood tests. He led them to another room, a small auditorium or conference room judging by the rows of chairs and he took their blood.

One after another, though there were a few complaints, none of them had been bitten. If they were infected they would be sick, feverish and in constant pain like Jim had been. Other than being tired and hungry they all felt fine. Jenner seemed understanding, but insisted on the blood since he was 'breaking' all kinds of protocol by letting them in. He wanted to be thorough.

After a few of them stumbled a bit he raised a brow and asked what was wrong. Jacqui helped Andrea back to the chairs and said over her shoulder. “We haven't had food in a couple of days.”

He looked sort of shocked at that and finished taking their blood before showing them where the kitchen was. Carol, Amy and T-Dog took over and started cooking while the rest of them waited in the cafeteria. Jenner disappeared with the blood samples.

 

An hour later there was food, real food, and the table was filled with it; Jenner even brought them wine. Glenn, however, had to pee and excused herself for a moment to use the restroom he'd shown them. When she came out, Jenner was waiting for her, which was kinda creepy.

“Um, hey Doc. There a problem?”

“The blood tests.”

Her heart skipped a beat. “Something wrong with mine?”

He was frowning at her. “You're a woman.” It was a statement, and she nodded. “Okay, that makes more sense.”

“What does?” She asked.

“The first thing that popped up on your test confused me so I wanted to double check and let you know, so you could make an informed decision.”

“You're freaking me out, what are you talking about?”

He handed her a piece a paper, a print out of her blood test. “Ms. Rhee, you're pregnant.” 

She stared at the paper, not truly comprehending what he was telling her. “Pregnant?”

“I thought you should know, since the others will be drinking wine with dinner.”

She nodded. “Right...alcohol is bad for babies.”

“It is.” He agreed. “Do you want to me tell the others?”

“No...not yet. I need...I need to tell Daryl.”

“Is he the father?” Glenn nodded again. “Should I tell him you need him?” Another nod. “I'll get him for you, wait here.”

She just stood there, holding that piece of paper, staring at it, wondering what the hell they were going to do. Daryl came around the corner a moment later, a bottle of wine in his hands. “Glenn, you okay? Doc said you needed me...course the others think we're gonna do it in the bathroom.” She didn't answer and when he reached her he cupped her cheek and brought her face up to look at him. “Glenn?”

“My blood test. Jenner thought I should know.”

He put the bottle of wine down on the floor and took the paper from her. “Is it bad?”

“I...well...I don't know. But I'm not drinking tonight...not drinking for a long time.”

He looked at her again, as confused by the print out as she had been. “Why?”

“My blood test...I'm pregnant.”

The paper slipped from Daryl's hands and his eyes widened and his gaze fell to her still flat stomach. Then they met her eyes again. “We're gonna be parents?”

She swallowed. “Yeah.”

“Damn right yer not drinkin' tonight. That shit's bad fer the baby.”

Glenn felt a little light headed. “You're not mad?”

“Why the hell would I be mad? You didn't knock yerself up, I was there, and I helped.”

The first tear fell. “Daryl, how are we gonna raise a baby on the road? If you're right this place isn't our safe haven...we'll need somewhere.”

“We got nine months ta figure that out right? Tonight, let’s just celebrate. I won't drink anymore either. Just, come on, go back to the room where he took our blood and I'll bring back food and water. Okay?” She nodded and he cupped her face and put their foreheads together. “We're gonna be fine. You, the baby, and me. We'll make it, and we'll raise that Lil' Asskicker up right.”

She snorted. “We're not naming our kid Lil' Asskicker.”

He let go of her with a grin and picked up the wine. “Whatever.”

As he walked back toward the cafeteria she called after him. “Daryl Dixon you name our kid that and I'll kick your ass!” His laughter was the only answer she got.

xxx

Rick looked up at Daryl as he reentered the cafeteria without Glenn and brought back the wine only to hand it off to Shane. He frowned as Daryl simply filled up a plate with two portions of food. “Everything okay?”

Daryl met his eyes and motioned with his chin for Rick to follow him a ways from the group before he snagged two forks and water bottles. Rick followed him to the edge of the room and Daryl finally shook his head. “Not sure...Jenner got a hit on Glenn's blood test.”

“She sick?”

“No... pregnant. She's scared and not up fer company.”

Rick almost felt sick at the news, because a baby on the way was one more worry they didn't need. He'd do everything he could though to make sure Glenn got what she needed for that baby. “You two need anything let me know.”

Daryl nodded. “Don't tell the others yet...we need to get used to it ourselves.”

“Okay...Daryl, for what it’s worth; being a parent is one of the greatest things on this earth.”

“That means somethin' alright.” Daryl walked away to find Glenn again, and Rick rejoined the others, not saying anything about their newest crisis.

xxx

Despite feeling sick at the initial news of her pregnancy, Glenn ate her entire portion of the food, and some of Daryl's at his insistence. She didn't rejoin the others until after everyone was done eating and Jenner led them to rooms with couches and told them to go easy on the hot water.

Hot water were freaking magic words and she found herself under the warm spray, Daryl's strong hands shampooing her hair and soaping up every inch of her body with care. He almost objected when she wanted to return the favor, but Glenn planted a kiss on him. “I need this Daryl.” And he relented, turning himself over the same sort of care he'd given her. She got it, she really did. The comfort he got from taking care of her, it was the same for her when her fingers worked the shampoo into his hair, when she scrubbed the dirt of the road from his arms. It was comforting. They were here, alive and together, all three of them, and Glenn was going to hang on to that for as long as possible. 

The spray was still steady and warm as they rinsed off and he leaned down to kiss her, hard and ready against her body. She grinned into the kiss and put her arms around his neck and he lifted her up and walked her to the wall to brace them against it. “Okay?” He asked, he always asked.

“Yeah.”

And he slid into easily and filled her up and she sighed in content.

 

Making love in the shower might have been a little much after the day they'd had, because Glenn was too tired to even walk after the thoroughly satisfying orgasm Daryl had shot through her body. It was a boost to his ego and he grinned at her the entire time he helped her dry off and dressed and then carried her bridal style into their room for the night.

Both of their sleeping mats were on the floor, one on top of the other, the bags on top of them to give them as much padding as possible. On top of the bags was a sheet and her blanket and their pillows. Daryl tucked her in and promised to be back as soon as he talked to Jenner. Glenn nodded and was asleep before he left the room.

xxx

“Hey doc, can I talk to ya for a sec?”

Jenner looked up from the blood tests, he was going over. “Everything okay?”

“Was wonderin' if you had any medicine here, vitamins, that kinda thing.”

“Regular or prenatal?”

“The ones fer pregnant women.”

“We do actually.” Jenner told him. “The military did bring us quite the selection when they tried to use this area as an evacuation point. Follow me.”

The doc led him to a supply room, filled with every kinda legit pill Daryl could imagine and pulled an entire box off the shelf and handed it to him. “All of these are vitamins?”

“I told you it was quite a selection. I'll leave the door unlocked in case you need anything else out of here...and congratulations.”

Daryl nodded and left the room a little shell shocked and made his way back to Glenn, not really believing in their good luck. When he got back to their room and saw her sleeping peacefully he made a decision. He was going to take a couple of her empty packs and fill them with medicine, any kind he thought might be useful for them.

And then he was going to raid the pantry.

xxx

Daryl got them up early since they'd fallen asleep early and they packed up their sleeping bags, mats, sheet and blanket. She eyed all her other packs, they were filled so full they barely closed, they'd been empty when she had fallen asleep.

“You went shopping without me?” She asked.

“Yup.” He handed her a single pill and bottle of water.

“What's this?”

He handed her the bottle of pills next. “Them prenatal vitamins. Jenner gave me a whole box of 'em.”

“Whoa. And the rest of the bags?”

“Two are meds, all kinds. The rest are filled with food. Most of its powdered but it'll feed us. I filled all our water bottles we brought in...he also had cases of bottled water...I got most of it back up to the lobby already. Just need ta get the stuff we have in here up there.”

“Breakfast first?”

“Sure.”

 

The cafeteria was empty of people when they got there, the table was set and the food was on the plates. It looked like everyone had left in a hurry, it wasn't a good sign...and then the lights went out. They shared a look and bolted for the big room Jenner had first taken them too, the last of their packs in their hands and on their backs.

The alarm started just as they stepped into the room. “Thirty minutes until decontamination.” And then the door shut behind them.

Glenn looked behind them at the metal door and tried not to sound scared when she was in fact terrified. “Did he just lock us in?”

“What the hell is goin' on?” Daryl yelled, storming down the steps.

“He's hit some sort of self destruct switch.” Shane yelled back.

“The hell he did!” Daryl lunged himself at Jenner, Rick and T-Dog barely caught him in time. “You can't do this! You can tell us we're gonna be parents, congratulate us, and then kill our baby!”

Everyone froze, eyes looking to Daryl, and then to Glenn who was still by the door. Sophia was the one who asked; “Glenn's gonna be a Mom?”

Glenn nodded, hands clenched around the handles of the bags she held. “If Jenner lets us out of here I will be.”

“Do you really want to bring a baby into this world?” He asked, looking from to Daryl, who was still struggling in Rick and T-Dog's grip to Glenn.

“It’s our choice. You don't have the right to take that choice that chance from us.”

“The world is over; it’s empty of everything but the dead.”

Glenn made a sound that caught in her throat and it made Daryl head straight for her and take her into his arms. Rick stared at them, and then turned his righteous fury on Jenner. “Last night you said there was no hope, and on any other day I might agree with you. We thought Atlanta would be safe. We were wrong. We thought this place would be safe. We were wrong. That, just about broke a couple of us, Morgan and myself included. But you told Glenn she was pregnant after you did her blood test. I can see it in their eyes, that baby is their new hope. It might just be for all of us. Don't take that away. There is always gonna be hope, that baby is all the proof of that that we need.”

Jenner stared at them for a long moment as the clock on the wall counted down, and then he flipped a switch and the door opened. “I can't open the main doors...but there's your chance.”

Daryl and Glenn didn't stay for the rest of his speech, they only ran, the others behind them. They made it to the lobby where Daryl had left all the bags of supplies he'd taken but the door wouldn't open. The big window wouldn't break. Morgan took an ax to both, Shane shot at the glass with his rifle; T-Dog threw a chair at it. Nothing. They were gonna die.

Then Carol, who must have been an angel sometime in a previous existence, handed Rick a grenade he'd had before. She'd found it in his clothes when she'd washed them back at the Quarry camp.

Rick set it off and they took cover, the window blew out and knocked Rick to the ground. Before he was even on his feet Daryl was shoving a bag in his hands. “Everyone grab a bag. We got food, water and medicine! Grab two if you can!”

It was a mad scramble as everyone grabbed something, even Sophia, Carl and Duane lugged packs out. The adults shot the Walkers that came at them and they barely made it to the vehicles before the whole building went up in flames the shock-wave rocking them harder than the grenade had.

When it was over they watched the CDC burn for a long moment, but they couldn't stay. All that fire and the sound of the bomb would attract every Walker around. The caravan started up and neither of them said a word as Daryl followed along, their truck bringing up the rear.

 

They drove for miles stopping to siphon fuel from the abandoned cars they passed and drove until the sun started to set and the smoke from the CDC was barely visible in their mirrors. There was old motel that they stopped at, parking in the makeshift courtyard where their caravan wasn't easily seen from the road.

It was a small place, and they made sure the rooms they chose were geek free with the keys from the office. The water still ran, though there was no telling how clean it was, and there was no power but they didn't expect there to be. No one said a word as they settled in their rooms, Dale taking first watch from the roof of the RV.

They weren't as spread out as they had been at the CDC. Carol, Sophia, Andrea and Amy piled into one room. Morgan, Duane and T-Dog went into another. Rick, Shane and Carl did the same; and left Daryl and Glenn to their devises.

Inside their room was a coffee pot and a hot plate and Daryl got out some bottled water and a few packs of powered food and his camping gear. Between the two of them they made a passable meal and Glenn ate her fill, finally getting a chance to take her vitamin.

“That was a lot of pressure Rick put on us.” She finally said after they'd taken some food to the others and come back with empty dishes that they left to soak in the tub.

“What's that?” Daryl asked, pulling her toward one of the beds so he could curl up with under the covers.

“All that stuff about this baby being our new hope. That's way too much pressure for Lil' Asskicker...and for us.”

“Thought we weren't namin' the kid that?” He laughed in her ear.

“Its growin' on me.”

Daryl snorted and held her close. “It’s not too much pressure. We'll make it, all of us.”

“Jacqui didn't.” Glenn whispered, and a tear slid down her cheek to the pillow.

“Her choice, don't mean its gotta be ours.”

He was right; she'd never opt out like that. She wanted to live. Wanted Daryl and their baby to live. She wanted all of them to live. “No it doesn't...we just gotta keep hope alive.”

“It’s all zen from here, baby.”

Glenn giggled and turned so she could kiss him, making herself believe that they'd be just fine.

XXX


End file.
